Tokyo: For the first time in nearly two decades, Japan said Russia had “illegally occupied” four disputed islands on Friday as relations soured over the Ukraine conflict.

The two nations have long sought a post-war settlement, but the issue of the islands held by Moscow and claimed by Tokyo remains.

The term was last used in 2003 by Japan’s foreign ministry to denote the islands, which Moscow calls the Kurils and Tokyo, the Northern Territories.

This year’s Diplomatic Bluebook comes as Japan and its G7 partners impose strong sanctions on Russia and revise Japan’s national security strategy later this year.

“The greatest concern between Japan and Russia is the Northern Territories,” it said, calling them “Japanese territories over which Japan holds sovereign rights but are currently illegally occupied by Russia.”

Earlier years used similar phrasing but without the “illegally occupied” phrase.

The ministry also stated that the Ukraine conflict would halt treaty talks.

That it was “impossible” to engage with a government that has taken an openly hostile attitude and is actively working against Russia’s interests.

The report on Friday was cautious on China, despite Japan’s prior concerns over Beijing’s increased maritime activity in the region.

“It is important to build a constructive and stable Japan-China relationship,” it said while reiterating concern over Beijing’s “attempts to change the status quo by force in the East and South China Seas”.

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