In the state Duma commented on the protest of Japan because of the division in the Kuril Islands
MOSCOW, 23 Feb — RIA Novosti. Kuril Islands is a territory of the Russian Federation, so the Russian side has the right to use them to protect the country, including for the deployment of its divisions, said the first Deputy Chairman of the Duma Committee on international Affairs Dmitry Novikov.
Earlier, the Japanese government sent through diplomatic channels protest to Russia over plans to deploy divisions of Russia in the Kuril Islands in 2017.
The Minister of defence of Russia Sergey Shoigu, speaking in the state Duma on Wednesday, said that the Agency expects “this year to finish the placement of the three divisions on the Western and southwestern border.” In particular, he stressed that “continues active work on the protection of the Kuril Islands”, where this year also “must be placed in the division”.
“We believe that this issue (the Kuril Islands) is solved, and since it is Russian territory, the Russian land, Russia has the right to take any measures to protect this area and use this area for protection of the Russian Federation as a whole”, — said Novikov RIA Novosti.
Thus, according to the Deputy, the Kuril issue should not be an obstacle for the development of trade-economic and cultural relations between Russia and Japan.
“Any problems inherited from the past may be solved in the present, you need to strive to develop good business and partnership relations,” he concluded.