UBE, Yamaguchi Pref. (Kyodo) Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Saturday that Japan will not force Russia to accept its offer to provide humanitarian aid to four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido it claims sovereignty over.
"It is not something we will force upon them," the government's top spokesman said in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, a day after the Russian Foreign Ministry rejected the aid. "We take that in its own way."
Russia said it notified the Japanese Embassy in Moscow of the decision on Friday.
Russia has taken a tougher stance on the bilateral territorial row ever since the Diet enacted a revised law in July declaring the four islands — Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islets — an "integral part" of Japan.
Kawamura effectively denied there was any correlation between the new law and the rejected aid, saying the latest move just shows that "Russia's economic situation has stabilized."
Japan started providing humanitarian aid, such as medical supplies and food, in 1992, after the islands' residents began facing economic difficulties following the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
However, the medical supplies were canceled in January after envoys on a humanitarian mission from the Japanese Foreign Ministry refused to submit disembarkation cards upon arrival on Kunashiri Island because doing so would signify Japan recognized it as part of Russia.