By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-08-18 13:57:07 | Updated at 2026-08-18 14:54:47
1 hour ago
Japan’s ambassador to Russia appeared at the Russian Foreign Ministry on Aug 18 after being summoned amid a spat over disputed islands off Hokkaido that has intensified following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first-ever visit there last week.
Ambassador Akira Muto’s appearance came a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his ministry had summoned the envoy following the Japanese government’s protest over Putin’s trip to one of the four islands, collectively called the Northern Territories by Japan and the Southern Kurils by Russia.
During his meeting with Muto, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin warned that his country reserves the “right to take appropriate countermeasures” against Japan, given Tokyo’s continued policy of sanctioning Moscow as well as its support for Kyiv, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Muto, for his part, “appropriately explained” Japan’s stance, according to the Japanese Embassy in Moscow. He left the ministry building after about 20 minutes and did not answer questions from reporters.
The Russian ministry also said in a statement that Galuzin “conveyed a strong protest to the Japanese diplomat over anti-Russia statements made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi” regarding Putin’s visit.
Emphasising that the Southern Kurils were “transferred to our country following World War II,” the statement said, “Any attempts by the Japanese side to directly or indirectly call this obvious reality into question are categorically unacceptable and illegitimate.”
Japan says the Soviet Union illegally seized the islands – Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group – soon after Japan’s surrender in World War II on Aug 15, 1945. Russia claims the action was legitimate.
The decades-old territorial dispute, which has kept the two countries from signing a postwar peace treaty, flared up after Putin travelled to Etorofu on Aug 13, touring locations such as a fish-processing plant and meeting with local residents.
The Japanese government has strongly protested the trip, with Takaichi underscoring that the Northern Territories are an “inherent part of Japanese territory both historically and under international law” and that the visit by a sitting Russian president was “incompatible with Japan’s consistent position” on the islands.
Later on Aug 13, Motegi summoned Russian Ambassador to Japan Nikolay Nozdrev to the Japanese Foreign Ministry to protest.
Lavrov, speaking at a press conference on Aug 17, criticised Japan for having “crossed the line of decency with their completely unacceptable statements” that the Russian president cannot visit “any part of the Russian Federation”.
Russia summoned the Japanese ambassador as soon as its officials learned of the reactions of Takaichi and Motegi but was told by the Japanese Embassy that Muto was unable to appear on Aug 14 or 17, either because he was “not in Moscow” or was “unwell,” Lavrov said at the press conference. KYODO NEWS
