Dmitry Peskov
© Alexander Shcherbak/TASS
MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. Moscow considers its sovereign right to give names to Kuril Islands because they are part of the territory of Russia. The Russian Federation will support the positive dynamics in relations with Japan, assured the press Secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov.
“We appreciate the new, very positive dynamics in our bilateral relations (with Japan), we intend to support this momentum,” – said the representative of the Kremlin.
He stressed: “All the same, the Kuril Islands, of course, remain the territory of the Russian Federation, so in this case we are talking about the sovereign right (give them names)”.
The government of Japan sent a protest to Russia in connection with the naming of five unnamed Islands in the Kuril chain. “This is unacceptable and contradicts Japan’s position”, – explained the Secretary-General of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan Acehide Suga. However, according to him, this step “should not affect” the negotiations with Moscow on a peace Treaty. Suga also expressed the view that “the presence of such problems (like renaming Islands – approx. TASS) stressed the importance of resolving the territorial issue”. “In this regard, we intend to continue hard negotiations with the Russian side”, – he added.
The names for the Islands
The decree on the naming of five unnamed Islands in the Kuril chain have signed earlier, the Chairman of Russian government Dmitry Medvedev. “In accordance with the Federal law “On naming of geographical objects” and on the basis of proposals of the Sakhalin regional Duma, as well as to perpetuate the memory of Lieutenant-General Derevyanko K. N., Lieutenant General Grechko A. R., statesman, diplomat Gromyko A. A., statesman, Governor Farkhutdinov I. P. and captain A. I. Shchetinina to assign names to geographical objects located on the territory of the Sakhalin region” – the document says.