Today (August 18th), Japanese Ambassador to Russia, Takehiko Takeuchi, was summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He stayed there for 25 minutes before leaving, without making any comments to the media.
According to a report by Russian Tass on the 17th, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova revealed that Japanese Ambassador to Russia Fudō Kenji plans to visit the Russian Foreign Ministry on the 18th. Previously, the Japanese government expressed strong protest regarding President Putin's recent inspection of the disputed islands.
Today, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov stated at a press conference that the Japanese ambassador excused himself due to illness and did not attend the Russian Foreign Ministry. Zakharova said that afterwards, “the ambassador felt much better and will go to the ministry tomorrow.”
According to Yomiuri Shimbun, a person in charge of the Japanese Embassy in Russia said, "Due to issues related to diplomatic communication, including whether an interview was arranged or whether one was summoned, we cannot provide a response."
Earlier that day, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Japanese ambassador to Russia. However, Lavrov stated that the ambassador had, for some reason, not yet appeared.
On the 13th of this month, Putin inspected Etorofu Island (known as Iturup Island in Russia), located in the South Kuriles. This was Putin's first visit to this disputed island as president.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida immediately stated that this action "has damaged the feelings of Japanese citizens and is absolutely unacceptable."
The Japanese government convened the Russian ambassador to Japan, Nikolai Kuznetsov, to express strong protests.
The Japanese side argues that the four islands of Tokashiki, Koshū, Seda and Tessva (referred to by Russia as the South Kuriles) were illegally occupied by the Soviet Union shortly after Japan surrendered during World War II; the Russian side insists that the occupation was lawful. This territorial dispute has led to the two countries not being able to conclude a post-war peace treaty to date.
