Japan 'strongly protests' Russian military exercises on disputed Pacific islands

Japan "strongly protested" yesterday against Russian military exercises on northern Pacific islands that it also claims and which have been at the root of strained relations between the two countries since the end of the second world war.

The exercises on the islands are a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to court resource-rich Russia and keep the door open to dialogue with Moscow, despite the Ukraine crisis.

The dispute over the islands, which Russia seized from Japan in the waning days of the second world war, has also prevented the two countries from signing a formal peace treaty.

The islands are known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.

"Carrying out this sort of exercise in the Northern Territories is totally unacceptable," Abe told reporters.

Japan lodged a "strong protest" at the Russian embassy in Tokyo, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling the exercises "extremely regrettable".

Japan had already protested prior to the beginning of the drills, but would renew its objections, a Foreign Ministry official said.