On Monday, March 7, in the Saeima of Japan, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called the southern part of the Kuril Islands "the territory over which Japan has sovereignty." At the same time, Russia considers these islands its own territory.
This was reported by Yomiuri.
The head of the Japanese government stressed that Japanese sovereignty covers the South Kuril Islands and they "belong to Japan."
"Our country’s sovereignty covers the Northern Territories [Japan’s name for the South Kurils - Apostrophe]," the Prime Minister claimed. "We must solve this issue and not leave it to future generations. The government intends to sign a peace treaty with Russia, resolving the issue of these islands’ sovereignty."
It should be noted that earlier the Japanese authorities refrained from making sharp statements regarding these territories. Russia occupied these Japanese territories in 1945 after World War II and keeps them under its control. This area is sparsely populated, but the majority of the population there speaks Japanese and has Japanese roots.
Russian Foreign Ministry stated repeatedly that the Russian sovereignty over these territories is cemented in international law and could not be challenged.
As Apostrophe reported, earlier Japan imposed sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine and sent several hundred of its volunteers to protect Ukraine from the Russian aggression.