Conflicted Islands: After two decades, Japan calls them bivalves occupied by Russia

Japan has described the four opposing islands as the non-conventionally occupied “from Russia for the first time in two decades and in the time of the post-war relations in Ukraine, writes The Guardian, Pryscopy.

The islands that Moscow calls Kurils and Tokyo in Northern Territories are held by Russia and claimed by Japan.

In the annual report published today, the Japanese Foreign Ministry has declared that “the greatest concern between Japan and Russia is the Northern Territory”, calling them the Japanese “achievement that Japan has the right to sovereignty, but that at the moment they are illegally occupied by Russia”.

Japan has not been refuting the islands as <x06ly occupied” since 2003, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

Japan and Russia have been involved in several attempts to achieve a post-World War II reconciliation, but Japan's Foreign Ministry has said the crisis in Ukraine would analyse talks with Russia.

In the past month, Moscow had said it would leave the talks, citing “the possibility of continuing talks as Tokyo is trying “to cause damage to our country's interests”.

And the Kremlin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has said the islands are “the undivided destination of the Russian Federation”.