Japan Protests Russian Prosecutor General's Visit to Southern Kurils - Reports

TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2020) The Japanese Foreign Ministry has lodged a protest against Russia over Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov's visit to the Southern Kurils, the NHK broadcaster reported on Friday.

Earlier in the day, the Russian prosecutor general visited the islands of Kunashir, Shikotan and Iturup as part of his working trip across the country's Far East.

According to the Japanese media, once information about the plans for such a visit emerged on October 5, Tokyo demanded that it be canceled.

On October 16, when the visit took place, the Foreign Ministry protested to the Russian Embassy in Tokyo, saying that Krasnov's visit was "incompatible with Japan's stance on the Northern Territories.

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The Kuril Islands dispute has been souring Moscow-Tokyo relations for decades and serves as the main stumbling block to signing a permanent WWII peace treaty. A group of four islands, namely Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai, is collectively referred to as the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan.

Russia insists that its sovereignty over the islands, which legally became a part of the USSR after WWII, is undisputed.