OREANDA-NEWS. The Japanese government did not accept the protest of the Russian side on the issue of the southern Kuril Islands. This was announced at a regular press conference on Wednesday by Japanese cabinet secretary general Yoshihide Suga, commenting on the note of protest handed to Japanese ambassador to Russia Toyohise Kodzuki by Russian deputy foreign minister Igor Morgulov on Tuesday.

“As for the note of protest from the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Igor Morgulov, we don't accept these protests. The Japanese Ambassador to Russia Toyohisa Kodzuki once again presented Morgulov’s position of our state and explained that such representations from the Russian side are unacceptable”, he said . Yoshihide Suga also emphasized that the Japanese government "will continue active negotiations with Russia on the basis of its basic position - the decision of a peace treaty and the conclusion of a peace treaty following it", adding that the negotiation process must be conducted "in a quiet, calm atmosphere".

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov on Tuesday presented the Japanese Ambassador to Russia Toyohisa Kodzuki a note of protest in connection with violations committed by Japanese participants in visa-free exchanges in the southern Kuril Islands.

From the middle of the last century, Moscow and Tokyo have been intermittently negotiating a peace treaty following the results of World War II. The main obstacle to his conclusion was the issue of belonging to the southern part of the Kuril Islands. In 1945, the entire archipelago was included in the Soviet Union, but the Japanese side disputes the belonging of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the group of now uninhabited islands, which in Japan are called Habomai. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly emphasized that Russian sovereignty over them, having the appropriate international legal design, isn't in doubt.