MOSCOW
(Reuters) --- Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday ordered the
speeding up of construction of military and civilian infrastructure on a chain
of islands in the Pacific Ocean where Moscow and
Tokyo have
rival territorial claims.
Dispute over the
islands, known as the Kuriles in Russia
and the Northern Territories in Japan, has
strained relations between the two countries since World War Two, when Soviet
forces occupied four islands at the southern end of the chain.
Shoigu was speaking
in Russia's Far East city of
Vladivostok
while inspecting the eastern military district, his ministry said in a
statement. It did not provide more detail.
Moscow
has angered Tokyo
in recent years by having state officials visit the island chain and stepping
up military activities there. Japan
says the islands are part of its territory and wants Moscow to hand them over.
No comments:
Post a Comment