TOKYO, August 26. /TASS/. Japan’s government has expressed protest to the Russian authorities over Russian military drills that a planned on the Island of Iturup, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said on Thursday.
"On August 21, we received a notification from the Russian side that firing exercises will be conducted near the coast of the Island of Iturup in our territorial waters from August 26 to 29 and from September 13 to 17. In response, we expressed protest via diplomatic channels that these drills run counter to the corresponding position of our country and are unacceptable," he said.
He stressed that the Japanese government will "continue talks with Russia in line with the fundamental course toward settling the territorial problem and signing a peace treaty" between the two states.
Russia and Japan have been negotiating a peace treaty after World War II since the mid-20th century. The main stumbling block to this is the issue of the ownership of the southern Kuril Islands. After the end of World War II, all Kuril Islands were incorporated into the Soviet Union. However, Japan challenged the ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan islands and a number of uninhibited islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge called the Habomai Islands in Japan.
In 1956, the Soviet Union and Japan signed a joint declaration on ceasing the state of war. The two countries resumed diplomatic and other relations, however no peace treaty has been signed until now.
The Russian foreign ministry has repeatedly said that Russia’s sovereignty over these islands, which is committed to paper in international documents, cannot be called to question.