ISTANBUL 

An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Japanese authorities on Tuesday about pursuing what he described as a "suicidal policy" of “militarization.”

“Of course, one would like to think that common sense will prevail among the Japanese elites and they will stop pursuing a suicidal policy of militarization and rattling their weapons in the direction of the two most powerful neighboring powers – Russia and China,” Nikolai Patrushev told the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper in an interview.

Patrushev said that Russia “cannot sit idly by” in this context, expressing that building up the defensive potential in its Far Eastern regions, as well as strengthening its naval power in the Pacific, is among Moscow’s priorities in terms of military development.

Concerning the long-standing territorial dispute between Russia and Japan in the Kuril Islands archipelago, Patrushev claimed Tokyo’s demands are based on “commercial interests.”

“In addition, Japan is preparing the ground for making new territorial claims, including in the waters of the seas washing Russia, which directly affects Russia’s interests in the area of ​​national security,” Patrushev further said.

He also argued Japan has been seeking to expand its military capabilities despite its pacifist stance under its war-renouncing Constitution, which came into effect in 1947, adding that the country is capable of creating its own nuclear arsenal “in a few years,” considering its technical and industrial potential.

"According to available information, NATO intends to use the Japanese fleet to conduct military operations in various parts of the world. That is why Tokyo is currently working on options for legislatively lifting the ban on the use of armed forces outside the country," he added.

Japanese authorities have not immediately commented on Patrushev’s remarks.

Russia and Japan have not signed a peace treaty since World War II and have a territorial dispute over what Moscow calls the Southern Kuril Islands — a set of four islets — Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai islet group, controlled by Russia that Japan identifies as the Northern Territories.

At the 1945 Yalta Conference, the former Soviet Union agreed to begin military operations on the Eastern Front in exchange for receiving some Japanese territories, including the Kuril Islands.

After the war, however, with the start of the Cold War, supported by Western countries, Japan rejected the Soviet Union's sovereignty over the islands, with Tokyo regularly protesting visits by Russian officials.

Russian authorities fear the possible deployment of US missile systems on the islands if they are returned to Japan, posing a direct military threat to Moscow.​​​​​​​