Tokyo is paying close attention to Moscow's actions in the Russian Far East and on the islands called Northern Territories by Japan and Southern Kurils by Russia, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said on Friday
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2020) Tokyo is paying close attention to Moscow's actions in the Russian Far East and on the islands called Northern Territories by Japan and Southern Kurils by Russia, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said on Friday.
On Tuesday, Russia deployed the S-300V4 air-defense missile systems (SAM) on the island of Iturup. Japan protested the move, saying that such actions lead to an increase in Russia's military presence on the four islands, which is at variance with Japan's position in relation to the territory.
"The Japanese Ministry of Defense is closely following Russia's actions in the Far East, including the Northern Territories," Kishi said at a press conference.
The Russian-Japanese relations have long been complicated by the fact that the two nations never signed a permanent peace treaty after the end of World War II. The deal was never reached because of a disagreement over a group of four islands � Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai � that are claimed by both countries.
On September 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin held the first phone talks with newly-appointed Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. The two leaders reaffirmed commitment to continue boosting of all aspects of the bilateral cooperation in the interest of the peoples of both countries and the Asia-Pacific region in general. Suga said that Japan was committed to the same policies toward Russia pursued by his predecessor Shinzo Abe.
In 2018, Abe and Putin agreed to accelerate peace treaty talks on the basis of a Soviet-era joint declaration. The document, signed in 1956, stipulates among other things, that the Soviet Union would transfer the two disputed islands � Habomai and Shikotan � to Japan following the conclusion of a peace treaty.
