Japan “strongly protested” on Wednesday against Russian military exercises on Pacific islands that it also claims and which have been at the root of strained relations between the two countries since the end of World War Two.
The exercises on the disputed islands are a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to court resource-rich Russia and keep the door open to dialogue, despite the Ukraine crisis.
Russia seized the islands from Japan in the waning days of World War Two and the dispute over them has prevented the neighbours from signing a formal peace treaty.
The islands are known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.
“Carrying out this sort of exercises in the Northern Territories is totally unacceptable,” Abe told reporters.Japan lodged a “strong protest” at the Russian Embassy in Tokyo, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling the exercises “extremely regrettable.”
Japan had already protested at the beginning of the military exercises but reiterated its objections on
Wednesday.
