Lavrov: The Japanese ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry — let him explain himself

The Japanese Ambassador in Moscow is due in The Russian Foreign Ministry for an explanatory conversation due to Tokyo's protest in connection with the arrival of head of state Vladimir Putin on Iturup Island (the Japanese consider the southern part of the Kuril Islands to be their "ancestral territory"), as well as on the issue of building its work in the Russian Federation. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a press conference following talks with Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakva.

"In any case, we have summoned Mr. Ambassador. He should come to the Foreign Ministry, and we will talk both about the behavior of the Japanese leadership in connection with President Putin's visit to the Russian island of Iturup, and in connection with how the ambassador should build his work in the host country — respect both its laws and the procedures that are for foreign diplomats in this country, in particular in this case in Russia, there are," the minister said, answering a question from TASS.

Lavrov explained why the Japanese ambassador was summoned today, and not on August 13, when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi strongly protested, saying that Putin's trip to Iturup complicated the "medium- and long-term restoration of relations" between Moscow and Tokyo.

As Lavrov noted, Russia summoned the Japanese ambassador immediately after Tokyo's protest, but the embassy "hesitated":

"When we learned about how Mrs. Takaichi, her Foreign Minister qualified the visit of our president to their own land to their own citizens, we immediately summoned the Japanese Ambassador. Somehow the embassy did not answer us very clearly, they hesitated, and then explained that he would not be able to either on Friday, the 14th, or on Monday, August 17, that is, today, that he was either not in Moscow, or he's not feeling well. We never figured it out."

As reported by EADaily, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, commenting on Takaichi's statement, stressed that the Kuril Islands were, are and will be Russian land.