As a comment by the Russian foreign ministry's press and information department obtained by RIA Novosti today says, "such actions, which at that was demonstratively timed to coincide with the anniversary of the end of WWII, are capable only to complicate talks on the problem of a peace treaty once again, instead of giving a positive impulse to them."
The Russian side is proceeding from the fact that it is necessary to preserve the positive dynamics in bilateral relations and continue active efforts to develop them in all areas.
The Prime Minister of Japan is expected to inspect the southern part of the Kurils from the board of a ship. In principle such an action is nothing new: in the past some Japanese leaders made similar inspections, the only difference being that they made this from the board of a plane rather than a ship, the Russian foreign ministry's comment says. "Naturally, this will be beyond the Russian territorial waters."
Moscow believes that these plans have been prompted by the internal political considerations, as it is difficult to imagine that such steps can have the aim of bringing a constructive element into bilateral Russian-Japanese relations.
