TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese officials criticized Russia on Monday for its plans to lay fibre-optic cables to islands disputed by Tokyo and Moscow, calling the construction work “deplorable” and “without legal basis.” Ties between Japan and Russia have been strained for decades over the four islands, which were occupied by the Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II but are claimed by Tokyo. They are known in Japan as the Northern […]
Tag: Northern Territories
Russia’s Putin holds talks with Japanese PM Abe in Vladivostok
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) — Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday (September 7) on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. The leaders are expected to discuss economic cooperation as well as North Korea’s nuclear program. The issue of the disputed islands called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kuriles in Russia which were seized by Soviet forces at the end of World War […]
Putin and Abe struggle for progress on island dispute
by Anna MALPAS Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia – President Vladimir Putin on Thursday agreed to start flights for former residents to visit a disputed island chain as he and Japanese premier Shinzo Abe again struggled to make progress on a decades-old territorial dispute. Russia and Japan have been blocked from signing a formal treaty to end World War II hostilities for seven decades over the island disagreement, hampering closer ties. The Soviet Union seized the […]





