Moscow [Russia], August 5: The German ambassador to Russia, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
In a protest note, the ministry on Monday warned Germany not to cast doubt on the results of World War II by recognizing Japanese claims on Russia's southern Kuril Islands.
The islands' status is part of the post-war order recognized by the United Nations, it added. "Russian sovereignty is undisputed here."
Moscow accused Germany's ambassador to Japan, Petra Sigmund, of questioning Russian sovereignty over the islands, and said the issue was "particularly mocking" in the year of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Germany's embassy in Moscow rebuffed the criticism. "We reject the accusation that the statements allegedly violated Russia's sovereignty."
The comments were believed to be linked to a visit by Sigmund and another diplomat to the Japanese city of Nemuro, on the island of Hokkaido, which is near the southern Kuril Islands.
Lambsdorff highlighted that the visit was being used as an occasion for protest "while at the same time Russia is violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in the most serious way every day with several hundred thousand soldiers."
The ambassador has repeatedly denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Source: Qatar Tribune
