TOKYO, September 15. /TASS/. More than half of Japanese residents believe the government should take a more "flexible" position toward Russia and call for dialogue rather than tighten sanctions over the situation surrounding the southern Kuril Islands, according to a poll conducted by conservative newspaper Sankei and Fuji TV.
Respondents were asked how Japanese authorities should respond to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to the southern Kuril Islands, whose sovereignty Japan disputes. A majority of respondents, 54.6%, said the government "should take a more flexible position, including calling for dialogue."
A poll conducted by Nikkei at the end of August showed similar results. Of those surveyed, 53% favored dialogue, while 39% supported a tougher position.
Russian President Vladimir Putin personally visited Iturup for the first time on August 13. The visit drew a sharp reaction from Tokyo.
Russian Ambassador to Tokyo Nikolay Nozdrev was subsequently summoned to the Japanese Foreign Ministry so that Japan could officially protest the move. He later called Tokyo's reaction unfounded and explained to Japan’s foreign minister that the southern Kuril Islands are an integral part of Russia.
Russia and Japan have been in talks since the middle of the last century on a post-World War II settlement. Disputes over rights to the southern Kuril Islands remain the main obstacle to such an agreement. The entire archipelago became part of the Soviet Union after the war, but Japan disputes Russia’s sovereignty over Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and a group of small uninhabited islands. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stressed that Russian sovereignty over these territories, which has a corresponding basis in international law, is beyond question.