Japan's "militarization" complicates the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, the deputy chair of the Russian Security Council and former President Dmitry Medvedev said on September 3. Russia and Japan have complex relations marked by decades of territorial dispute over a handful of small, Russian-held islands off Hokkaido that Moscow calls the southern Kuriles, but Japan claims as its Northern Territories. The dispute over the area has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from reaching a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.
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