Russia vows to keep visits to disputed islands

MOSCOW - Top Russian leaders will continue to visit the Southern Kuril islands despite ongoing protests from Japan, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday.

Tokyo's protests will not stop Russian officials from traveling to the islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan, Lavrov told reporters after talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Lavrov downplayed Tokyo's criticism of the trips to the islands in far eastern Russia, including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's July 3 visit to Kunashir island, called Kunashiri in Japan.

"My answer to the question as to whether Russian officials will refrain from trips (to the Southern Kuril islands) is: No, they won't. This is just a fact," Lavrov said.

The foreign minister said Russia is responsible for improving social and economic conditions in that part of its Far East region and Japanese protests over the visits are unacceptable.

Gemba, meanwhile, said it was sad that the territorial disputes that have lasted for more than six decades still have not been resolved.

In an interview with Itar-Tass news agency ahead of his visit to Russia, the foreign minister called on both countries to resolve the dispute "in a calm atmosphere."

A settlement, Gemba said, would permanently smooth over ties between Tokyo and Moscow.

"I am confident that through the settlement of the territorial problem and signing of a peace treaty, Russia will cement its relations with Japan, its most reliable partner in the Asia Pacific region, forever," he said.

Moscow and Tokyo have been at odds over the four islands since the end of World War II, when the former Soviet Union seized the disputed territory, including Etorofu, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group with 17,000 residents.

Tensions between Russia and Japan spiked in November 2010 when then-President Medvedev became the first Russian leader to visit the disputed islets.

Medvedev said Moscow considered the Far East region a priority in development and government officials should visit the region more frequently.

After his visit to Kunashir island, which sparked angry responses from Tokyo and a new round of diplomatic spats between the two sides, Medvedev said he was "indifferent" to the irritation his trip caused in Japan.