Russia has expressed strong displeasure over Japan's enactment of a revised law declaring that 4 Russian-held islands off Hokkaido are an integral part of Japan.
On Friday, the upper house of Japan's parliament unanimously passed a bill revising a law aimed at settling Japan's decades-old dispute with Russia over ownership of the 4 islands.
The Russian foreign ministry told the Interfax news agency it was very regrettable that Russia's position had not been taken into consideration. It said the passage of the bill would not have a positive impact on Russia-Japan relations.
The chairman of the Russian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Konstantin Kosachev, strongly criticized Japan.
He said Japan has taken the Northern Territories issue up a dead-end road, so it's up to Japan to find a way forward.
The upper house of the Russian parliament is set to convene a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss severe measures against Japan.
Since Japan's lower house passed a revision of the bill on June 12th, the lower house of the Russian parliament has been demanding a repeal of the bill.
The leaders of the two countries are scheduled to meet next week in Italy on the sidelines of the G8 Summit.
But many Russians are reacting strongly to the revised bill because they feel Japan has forced its position onto Russia.
2009/07/04 01:40(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)
http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/04_01.html 
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