Japan protests Russia's withdrawal from the agreement on facilitated visits to the Kuriles

Secretary General of the Japanese Cabinet Hirokazu Matsuno called the steps of the Russian government "illegal".

- From our point of view, this is unacceptable. At the moment, we have not received official notification from the Russian side. At the same time, we expressed a strong protest, TASS quoted Matsuno as saying.

Responsibility for the deterioration of relations between the two countries "lies entirely with Russia." Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi called the actions of the Russian Federation "absolutely unreasonable and unacceptable."

“As of now, we have not received any preliminary notifications from Russia regarding this issue,” RIA Novosti quotes the Japanese minister.

As it became known on September 5, Russia is terminating the agreement with Japan, according to which the simplified regime for visiting the islands of Kunashir, Iturup and the Lesser Kuril ridge was in effect.