In a Feb. 11 meeting in Moscow, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and his Russian counterpart, Mr. Sergei Lavrov, failed to make any progress on a decades-old sovereignty dispute over the four islands off Hokkaido held by Russia. Bilateral ties are at their lowest ebb in many years. It is all the more important for Japan to seek every chance to open and keep channels of communication with Russia so that mutually trustful ties will be attained.
Regrettably, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Kunashiri Island, one of the four islands, on Nov. 1, heralding a series of visits since then by high-ranking Russian officials to what Japan calls the Northern Territories. On Feb. 7, the Northern Territories Day, Prime Minister Naoto Kan denounced Mr. Medvedev's Kunashiri visit as an "unforgivable outrage." Since Japan has no direct means to end Russia's effective control over the islands, this was diplomatically a thoughtless remark.
Two days later, Mr. Medvedev said that the islands are integral part of Russia and that Moscow will make every effort to strengthen its armed forces there. The Russian military said that it will soon station two French-made Mistral-class amphibious assault ships in the Russian Far East, partly to defend the islands.