Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that the Southern Kuril Islands will remain Russian territory, rejecting Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s claim that they are inherently Japanese. Takaichi had protested Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to one of the disputed islands, saying Japan could not accept the move. The territorial dispute has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a postwar peace treaty, with relations further strained by Japan’s sanctions against Moscow.
Credit : CGTN