Yosychide Suga, Secretary General of the Government of the Land of the Rising Sun, protested the planned exercises of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Kuril Islands. "They will lead to the strengthening of the military presence of the Russian army on the four northern islands, which does not coincide with the position of our country. For an exhaustive solution of the problem, it is necessary to solve the problem of the northern territories themselves, "quotes the official RIA" Novosti ". Earlier, Moscow notified Tokyo about the conduct of firing exercises in the area of ??the islands of Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and Habomai, whose Russian affiliation Japan disputes. The Japanese call the southern islands of the Kuril ridge "the northern territories". The sharp statement of Japanese officials looks strange against the background of the constructive position of the Russian side on such a sensitive issue as territorial disputes between the two countries and the conclusion of a peace treaty. On Monday, October 8, it became known that initially the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were going to include in the territory of the exercises "East - 2018" (the largest in the domestic troops over the past 40 years) and the Kuril Islands.

But later abandoned this idea out of respect for the feelings of the Japanese. Tokyo asked Moscow not to conduct exercises in the Kuriles, and the Russian authorities agreed to this. "We invited your observers, your attache to the teachings" East - 2018 ". Unfortunately, we did not see your presence, your participation in these maneuvers.. We hope that in the future we will be able to show the whole peaceful spirit of our exercises, aimed solely at defending the borders of our country, ”said Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at a meeting with the head of the Joint Staff of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces Admiral Katsutoshi Kavano. "Since we had a concern that military exercises (Vostok-2018) would be held in the" northern territories ", so we decided not to send observers to them. However, this time the Russian side decided not to conduct military exercises in the northern territories ", - said the admiral.

He laid "high hopes" on the fact that the military departments of the two countries "will be able to promote defense relations between Japan and Russia". However, Tokyo’s protest against the upcoming firing is questioning the positive mood expressed by Kavano. Russia and Japan are still unable to conclude a peace treaty following the Second World War. The obstacle is the controversial status of the southern Kuriles. Moscow’s position is that they became part of the USSR following the Second World War, and Russian sovereignty over them, which has the appropriate international legal framework, cannot be doubted.