Japan asks Russia not to realize Medvedev’s isle visit

July 25, 2019

Tokyo--Japan has requested Russia not to let Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visit any of the disputed northwestern Pacific islands off Hokkaido, officials said Wednesday.

The government made the request in response to a Russian media report that Medvedev is planning to visit in August Etorofu, one of the four Russian-held islands at the center of the two countries' territorial dispute, called the Northern Territories in Japan, according to the officials.

Medvedev visited the Northern Territories as president in 2010 and as prime minister in 2012 and 2015. During the 2012 visit, he said Russia would not give any part of the islands to Japan.

A visit to any of the four islands by a senior Russian government official "goes against our position on the territorial issue," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Takeshi Osuga told a press conference. Jiji Press