Russia summons Japan ambassador over disputed Kuril Islands row after Putin visit

Japanese officials had ‘crossed the line of decency’ in criticising Putin’s recent trip, said Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Moscow said on Monday it had summoned the Japanese ambassador after Tokyo condemned President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to Russia’s far-eastern Kuril Islands, which are also claimed by Japan.

Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by the contested islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized by the Soviet Union in 1945.

Japanese officials had “crossed the line of decency” in criticising Putin’s trip, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

“We have summoned the [Japanese] ambassador,” Lavrov told reporters, adding that Tokyo had initially said Muto could not attend immediately.