Russia finds Hope in Japanese Responses to War Gaffe: Official

May 24, 2019

Moscow--Russia finds hope in Japanese political parties' responses to a Japanese lawmaker's recent remark suggesting a war as a way to take back four islands currently controlled by Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

Zakharova told a press conference that Russians are outraged by the controversial remark by House of Representatives lawmaker Hodaka Maruyama, while expecting that uncompromised action will be taken against his provocative and senseless behavior.

Japanese opposition parties last week submitted a draft parliamentary resolution to urge Maruyama to resign as a lawmaker, while the ruling coalition earlier this week proposed a resolution to reprimand him. Jiji Press