This statement was made for the first time in almost 20 years.
For the first time since 2003, Japan officially marked in the Blue Book on Diplomacy for the current year the northern territories, ie the southern Kurils, as “illegally occupied” by Russia. The book was presented by the Japanese Foreign Ministry at a government meeting on Friday, Kyodo News reported.
The wording on the status of the islands used in the Diplomatic Blue Book of 2022 underscores Tokyo's departure from a conciliatory approach to Moscow. Japan has now returned to a tough stance in its longstanding territorial dispute with Russia, officially declaring that the four northern islands are “illegally occupied” by Russia.
“The northern territories are islands over which Japan has sovereignty A large part of Japan's territory, but they are now illegally occupied by Russia, “the blue paper said.”
The book also states that the Russian invasion of Ukraine “is an outrage that undermines the foundations of international order not only in Europe but also in Asia,” and the current circumstances leave the prospects for the outcome of territorial negotiations uncertain./p>
The Japanese government strongly urges Russia to listen to criticism from the international community, withdraw its troops from Ukraine and comply with international law.
Earlier, the Russian Federation said that < st rong> suspends work on peace treaty with Japan and abolishes visa-free travel for Japanese in the occupied South Kuril Islands due to “unfriendly actions of the country”, including Japanese sanctions against Russia after the full-scale invasion of Russian occupiers in Ukraine.
