MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd August, 2023) Moscow will view Tokyo's protests related to the southern Kuril Islands, which Japan regards as its Northern Territories, as interference in Russia's internal affairs and a violation of the UN Charter, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.
In July, Tokyo voiced a protest over Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev's visit to the island of Iturup.
"The southern Kuril Islands are a part of Russia following the results of World War II. Based on this absolutely indisputable fact, any corresponding so-called protests by Tokyo will be further considered by us as an attempt to interfere in the internal affairs and as a violation of the fundamental principles of the UN Charter," Zakharova told a briefing.
Russia and Japan have been locked in a dispute over the four southernmost Kuril Islands (Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Habomai) as the two countries never signed a peace treaty following World War II. Japan has refused to give up its sovereignty claims to the four islands, which it refers to as its Northern Territories. Moscow and Tokyo have tried to negotiate separate aspects of their disagreements, but never signed a full post-World War II peace treaty.
In March 2022, Russia withdrew from talks with Japan on signing the peace treat and halted visa-free travel for Japanese citizens to the southern Kuril Islands and joint economic activities on the disputed islands. The move was due to Tokyo's "unfriendly" steps over the Ukraine conflict, Moscow said.
