Russia summons Japan ambassador over disputed islands row

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Moscow said Monday it had summoned the Japanese ambassador after Tokyo condemned President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to Russia’s far-eastern Kuril Islands, which are also claimed by Japan.

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Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by the contested islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized by the Soviet Union in 1945.

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Putin, 73, travelled to the islands after visiting the nearby Russian island of Sakhalin, prompting Japan to summon Russia’s ambassador in protest.

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Moscow retaliated by summoning Japanese envoy Akira Muto.

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Japanese officials had “crossed the line of decency” in criticising Putin’s trip, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

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“We have summoned the (Japanese) ambassador,” Lavrov told reporters, adding that Tokyo had initially said Muto could not attend immediately.

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“We were told either that he was not in Moscow or that he was unwell. We did not quite understand the situation,” Lavrov said.

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Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova later told state news agency TASS that after Lavrov’s comments the ambassador had “suddenly started feeling better” and would attend on Tuesday.

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Lavrov said Muto’s summons was intended to address “the conduct of the Japanese leadership” and how ambassadors “should conduct themselves in the host country”.

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Ties between Japan and Russia have worsened since the full-scale conflict in Ukraine began in 2022.

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Japan has joined other G7 countries in sanctioning Russia and giving money and non-lethal defence aid to Kyiv.

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AFP

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