Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Geo436.com blog: Tokyo recalls ambassador over Russia island row

Geo436 TOKYO: Japan said Tuesday it will recall its ambassador to Moscow, heightening a long-standing row with Russia over four remote Pacific islands following a visit there by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said he wanted information from the ambassador following Medvedev’s visit to one of the Kuril Islands on Monday, which Tokyo condemned as “very regrettable”.

“I decided to recall ambassador to Russia (Masaharu) Kono temporarily,” Maehara told reporters.

The Kuril Islands, which lie north of Japan’s Hokkaido island, have been controlled by Moscow since they were seized by Soviet troops at the end of World War II, but Tokyo claims the southernmost four as Japanese territory.

The feud is another headache for Prime Minister Naoto Kan, whose government has been embroiled in Japan’s worst diplomatic spat for years with


No comments:

Post a Comment