JAKARTA - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is a sensitive island that Russia has disputed with Japan off the coast of Hokkaido, for the first time after an amendment to Russia's constitution recently banned the country from giving up its territory, Monday, July 26.
The visit to the Japanese version of Etorofu Island or the Russian version of Iturup marks a prime minister-level visit, after the last such visit was made by PM Dimitry Medvedev in August 2019.
Japan reacted strongly to this visit. Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Mori lodged a formal protest against Russia's Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin, a ministry official said, citing Kyodo News Monday, July 26.
Earlier, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Mishustin's trip went against Japan's consistent position in the Northern Territories and was deeply regrettable.
Mishustin, Russia's second most powerful figure after President Vladimir Putin, inspected a hospital on the island, as part of a four-day trip to Russia's Far East and Siberia, according to the Russian government.
He then headed to a seafood processing complex on the island, according to local reports. Prior to his trip, Tokyo had asked Moscow's prime minister not to visit the island, Japanese government sources said.
The disputed islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia, were seized by the Soviet Union after Japan surrendered in World War II in 1945. Tokyo has long sought to restore the islands, which also include Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomai island chain.
President Putin on Friday last week instructed Mishustin to pay "special attention" to the islands, saying the prime minister came up with a "good proposal" regarding joint economic activities on the islands that the two countries want to implement.
The two countries have agreed to carry out joint projects on the islands in areas such as aquaculture, wind power and waste reduction as a trust-building exercise.
Separately, Russia rejected what it said was a hostile Japanese diplomatic protest following the Russian prime minister's visit to the disputed island chain on Monday, saying he could go anywhere on Russian territory he wanted.
Mishustin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying during the visit, Moscow plans to establish a special economic zone without customs and tax reductions in the island chain.
Along with the summons of the Russian Ambassador in Tokyo. Moscow also summoned the Japanese Ambassador in the Land of the Red Bear, to protest Tokyo's behavior.
"Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov expresses strong protest to the Japanese side regarding the hostile steps taken by Tokyo officials in recent days," the ministry said in a statement, citing Reuters.
The Kremlin said it appreciated and wanted to improve relations with Tokyo but saw nothing wrong with Mishustin's trip.
"Regarding the prime minister's trip to the island of Iturup, he visited the Russian provinces that he found suitable," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Peskov added that Moscow would continue to work with Tokyo to agree a peace agreement.
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