During a televised state meeting with Russia’s defence and regional development ministers, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev referred to the Kuril Islands as a “part of Russia” and said his country’s “strategic presence” on them would
be “stepped up”.
Since that announcement, a member of the Russian general staff has announced that the S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile system, one of the most lethal in the world, will be deployed to the islands.
The Kuril Islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan, were seized by the Soviet army in August 1945 following the
Soviet Union’s declaration of war on Japan. Tokyo’s ongoing claim to the four islands has prevented a peace treaty being signed with Moscow meaning that both sides are, technically speaking, still at war today.
The recent escalation in tension over the disputed region stems from when President Medvedev visited one of the islands last November, which prompted Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan last week to refer to this as having constituted an “inexcusable rudeness”.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov reacted angrily to that comment, arguing: “When radical approaches to signing a peace treaty take over in Japan, then talks have no prospects.”
The Kremlin’s position hardened when the head of the presidential administration, Sergei Naryshkin, said that Russian leaders “will continue visiting Russia’s regions, including the Kuril Islands”.
