Friendly Relations With Japan Should Not Involve Kurils Dispute

The Kuril Islands, which are part of the Russian Federation, should in no way have influence over Rusian-Japanese bilaterla relations, according to Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

ITURUP ISLAND (Sputnik) – Moscow hopes for friendly relations with Tokyo but the territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands should not be involved in it, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday.

"Our stand is simple. We want to be friends with Japan. Japan is our neighbor and we are well disposed to Japan. But the Kuril Islands, which are part of the Russian Federation, a subject of the Russian Federation called the Sakhalin Region, should in no way be involved into it," Medvedev told reporters after his visit to the disputed island of Iturup.

The Russian prime minister arrived on Iturup earlier in the day to visit a number of construction sites that are part of Russia’s Kuril development program mapped out until 2025.

Tokyo lodged a formal protest over Medvedev's visit to the island, according to local media. The Japanese government also postponed the visit of Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida to Russia which was expected to take place in late August or early September.

The Kuril Islands, located in the Sea of Okhotsk, have long been subject to a dispute between Russia and Japan since the sides failed to sign a permanent peace treaty following the end of World War II. All of the Kurils have been administered by Russia since the end of WWII, but the Japanese government still lays claim to Iturup and three other islands.

Earlier in August, the Russian government adopted a Kuril development program with an overall budget of over 60 billion rubles ($870 million at the current exchange rate).