MOSCOW, Aug. 18 — Moscow has brushed aside remarks by U.S. Ambassador to Tokyo George Glass recognizing Japanese sovereignty over the Southern Kuril Islands.
“We see no fundamental new element in this statement by George Glass, head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Japan. Similar pronouncements of unqualified support for Tokyo’s claim to Russian territories have been made by American diplomats before,” the Russian Foreign Ministry told Xinhua on Tuesday in response to a request for comments on the remarks.
Russia once again emphasized that its sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Southern Kuril Islands are beyond question. It recalled that the Southern Kuril Islands belong to Russia as the outcome of World War II, under agreements of the Allied Powers, including the United States, and the United Nations (UN) Charter.
Russia’s sovereignty over the islands is indisputable, and the ambassador’s rhetoric fuels Japanese revanchism and revisionism, the ministry said, adding that such a tendency by Japan worries almost all its neighbors.
On Aug. 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin paid his first-ever visit to Iturup Island (called Etorofu in Japan), one of the Southern Kuril Islands (known as the Northern Territories in Japan). (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
