FOCUS: Japan Has Few Cards to Play 1 Month after Putin's Isle Visit

Tokyo, Sept. 13 (Jiji Press)--Japan has been unable to take concrete countermeasures since Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a disputed northwestern Pacific island a month ago.

Japan has lodged a strong protest following Putin's Aug. 13 visit to the island of Etorofu, one of the four islands claimed by Tokyo but controlled by Moscow. The four islands, seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II, are called the Northern Territories in Japan.

Still, Tokyo has largely failed to come up with a heftier response, given the need for a stable procurement of oil and natural gas from Russia amid the prolonged conflict in the Middle East.

Japan taking further action, such as imposing fresh sanctions, would lead to "a further deterioration in Japan-Russia ties," a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official said.

"We hope to seize the opportunity to strengthen our approach to the Russian side," Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said at a press conference on Friday.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]