MOSCOW – The war of words between Russia and Japan escalated on Monday when Moscow called Tokyo’s latest comments on a disputed island chain “clearly undiplomatic”. Prime Minister Naoto Kan used a national remembrance day Monday to call President Dmitry Medvedev’s November visit to the Kuril Islands — which are known as the Northern Territories in Japan — an “unforgivable outrage.”
Russia’s response was swift, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov calling the comments hostile and accusing Tokyo of pandering to Japanese nationalists. “These expressions are clearly undiplomatic,” Lavrov said during a joint press conference with his visiting Hungarian counterpart Janos Martonyi.
“They contrast sharply with the respectful, positive tone that was characteristic of the meeting between Prime Minister Naoto Kan and President Dmitry Medvedev in Yokohama last autumn,” Russia’s top diplomat said.
