TEHRAN, July 26 (MNA) – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov lodged a protest to Japanese Ambassador Toyohisa Kozuki on Mon.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov on 26 July lodged a protest to Japanese Ambassador Toyohisa Kozuki over Tokyo’s recent unfriendly steps related to territorial claims, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, Sputnik reported.

Kozuki was invited to the ministry after Japan's permanent deputy foreign minister, Takeo Mori, summoned Russian Ambassador in Tokyo Mikhail Galuzin to lodge a protest Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin's visit to the Kuril Islands.

"Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov lodged to the Japanese side a strong protest in connection with the unfriendly steps taken by official Tokyo in recent days in the context of Japan's territorial claims to our country.

We strongly urged our partners not to turn to a destructive line in bilateral relations and return to the implementation of the leaders' earlier agreements on taking Russian-Japanese ties to a qualitatively new level through the comprehensive development of trade and economic cooperation, building confidence-building measures in the security sphere, and rapprochement of positions in international affairs," the ministry said in a statement.

Japanese Ambassador in Moscow Toyohisa Kozuki left the building of the Russian Foreign Ministry where he was summoned on 26 July after Tokyo lodged a protest in connection with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin's visit to the Iturup Island, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

The diplomat told Sputnik that he was summoned to the ministry to discuss bilateral relations.

Earlier in the day, Japan's permanent deputy foreign minister, Takeo Mori, summoned the Russian Ambassador in Tokyo Mikhail Galuzin to lodge a protest over Mishustin’s visit to the Kuril Islands.

Galuzin reportedly said Japan's protest over Mishustin's visit is "inappropriate".

Mishustin is expected to travel to islands that Russia calls "Southern Kuril" and Japan names them as the "Northern Territories".

The former Soviet Union took control of the islands at the end of World War II, and the dispute over their ownership was one of the main reasons for the two countries' failure to reach a formal peace treaty.

HJ/PR