Tokyo, Aug 14 (EFE).- The United States ambassador to Japan emphasized on Friday the «unwavering» support for Japan in its claim to sovereignty over the Kuril Islands, controlled by Moscow and visited by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, sparking a diplomatic rift.
«The United States remains unwavering in its support of its most important ally and in its recognition of Japanese sovereignty over the Northern Territories,» George Glass wrote on X.
«At a time when the US-Japan Alliance is dedicated to cultivating prosperity across the Indo-Pacific, we strongly oppose any action that undermines its peace and stability.”
The Kremlin chief visited the Kuril Islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories, on Thursday for the first time since coming to power in 2000. This unexpected trip, part of his tour of Siberia and the Russian Far East, took Putin to a fish processing plant on the island of Iturup (Etorofu in Japan).
In response, the Japanese government protested the visit by summoning the Russian ambassador to Tokyo, Nikolai Nozdiev, to the foreign ministry, where he asked him to convey the complaint to the Kremlin immediately.
