ITURUP ISLAND (Sputnik) – An advanced combat-ready military group should be deployed on the Kuril Islands, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday.
“We need an advanced combat-ready military group stationed on the Kuril Islands. All the necessary conditions for it have been met in accordance with the decisions made by the Commander-in-chief,” Medvedev told reporters after his visit to the island of Iturup.
As Russia and Japan failed to sign a permanent peace treaty following the end of World War II, Tokyo still challenges Russia's sovereignty over the Kuril Islands.
Earlier in August, the Russian government adopted a Kuril development program with an overall budget of over 60 billion rubles ($870 million at the current exchange rate).
