Japan urges Russia not to conduct military drills around disputed areas
PremiumJapan urges Russia not to hold military drills around the disputed Kuril islands
Japan has urged Russia not to conduct military drills in the area around disputed northern islands in the Sea of Okhotsk. Moscow has been planning to conduct military exercises in the country's Far East from late August.
Japan lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril islands that Tokyo calls the Northern Territories. This territorial row dates back to the end of World War II when Soviet troops seized these islands from Japan.
Reuters reported that the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, Yoshihiko Isozaki, said, "We lodged a firm representation that the Northern Territories should be excluded from the areas for the drills."
Russia is yet to respond to the statement issued by the Japanese official. Recently, Vladimir Putin had not attended the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who was assassinated while addressing a rally in Nara, Japan.
Historically Russia and Japan have shared strained ties having battled from opposite fronts in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05 and the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945.
With inputs from Reuters
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