Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Japan Mikhail Galuzin. File photoTOKYO Feb. 3 New U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel lashes out at Russian counterpart Mikhail Galuzin for allegedly picking the «worst time» to mention the Kuriles in light of the upcoming Northern Territories Day , as the Japanese call the southern islands of the Kuril chain. To this, the Russian ambassador to Japan said that «the time is right,» and suggested that the American diplomat might not yet be aware of the Russian position on the Kuriles issue. The day before, Russian ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin during a press conference at the foreign journalists' club in Tokyo noted that Moscow has never negotiated with Tokyo on the issue of ownership of the islands.»Forget about the islands»: the Japanese spoke out about Tokyo's policy on the Kuriles they call the southern islands of the Kuril chain). Rules and respect matter,» the American ambassador to Japan wrote on Twitter. In response to criticism, Galuzin replied that «the timing is right.»
"For the information of those who may not yet be aware of the Russian position: Russia does not recognize illegal territorial claims in relation to our southern Kuril Islands and, consequently, any "festivals", to them related", — the message on the page of the Russian Embassy in Japan on Twitter on behalf of the Russian diplomat says.
Galuzin also stressed that «proper international law (and not self-invented so-called «rules») and respect for the agreements of allied states are important.» «Intimidation is talking about sanctions and» decisive actions «against Russia instead of diplomacy. But it is absolutely meaningless however,» the Russian ambassador's response notes. 
The Japanese called for the Kuril Islands to be taken away by force bilateral Treatise on Commerce and Frontiers, 1855. Tokyo set the return of the islands as a condition for concluding a peace treaty with the Russian Federation, which was never signed at the end of World War II. In 1956, the USSR and Japan signed a joint declaration in which Moscow agreed to consider the possibility of transferring two islands to Japan in the event of a peace treaty. The USSR hoped to put an end to this, while Japan considered the deal only part of the solution to the problem, without renouncing claims to all the islands. Subsequent negotiations came to nothing. Moscow's position is that the islands became part of the USSR following World War II and the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over them is beyond doubt.