They went back to the division

Japan protest against Russia's plans for the deployment of a division in the Kuril Islands. This was stated by the Secretary General of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan Yoshihide Suga, reports Reuters.

Thus, Suga commented on the words of the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, who said in the State Duma that Russia plans to "complete the deployment of the division" in the Kurils in 2017.

“If this step leads to the strengthening of the Russian military presence on the islands, this is incompatible with the position of Japan and is regretted, since they are inherently our territory,” Suga said.

As noted by the Secretary General of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan, the division will be discussed at a meeting of the heads of the Ministry of Defense and the Worlds of the two countries, scheduled for March 20 in Tokyo.

“These protests are at least inappropriate, they have no international legal soil. With the same success, one can expect from the United States that they will withdraw their Navy from Okinawa. Let them do, and there we will see about the Kurili division,” said Viktor Ozerov, Chairman of the Committee for the Council of Defense and Security, Viktor Ozerov.

The head of the Council of Committee emphasized that Russia has the right to place troops on its territory where it considers it necessary if it does not violate the norms of international law and the requirements of the UN. “Placing our armed forces on the Kurils, we are not going to use them against Japan,” Ozerov said.

In December 2016, President Vladimir Putin called for "stop the historical ping-pong" in the discussion of the fate of the islands of the Kuril ridge. “In our opinion, we need to stop this historical ping-pong in these territories, in the end we must somehow understand that the fundamental interests of both Japan and Russia require final, long-term settlement, that’s the whole thing,” the president said. According to him, the solution to the territorial problem and the conclusion of a peace treaty cannot be achieved overnight.

“It would be naive to believe that we can (territorial dispute. - Ed.) Overnight, to resolve, but to look for a decision that would meet the strategic interests of both Russia and Japan, and it would be adopted by the peoples of both countries,” the Russian leader said, calling the lack of a peace treaty between Moscow and Tokyo “An anachronism of the past”.

Putin expects that joint household on the Kurils will contribute to the advancement to a peace treaty between Moskova and Tokyo. In addition, the president proposed to introduce the regime of free border movement of residents of the Sakhalin Region and the Japanese Island of Hokkaido.

Prior to this, Putin and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe agreed on the text of the application for the beginning of joint economic activity on the islands of the Kuril ridge.