MOSCOW. Nov 8 (Interfax) - The upper chamber of the Russian parliament supports President Dmitry Medvedev's plans to visit other islands of the Kuril range and calls on Japan to show restraint.
"We are extremely puzzled by the Japanese leadership's inappropriate reaction to President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to the Kuril Islands," the chamber's First Deputy Speaker Alexander Torshin told Interfax.
Japanese diplomats have always followed a calm and balanced approach, "but this situation is accompanied by some hysterics not characteristic of Tokyo," Torshin said.
"What's the cause of it? The cause is the Russian president's trip to one of the constituents of the Russian Federation and his meeting with citizens of Russia living there," the senator said.
The Federation Council supports the Russian leader's plans to travel to other islands of the Kuril range, Torshin said.
"If [these visits] are met with the same inappropriate response from Tokyo, the Russian side could start to speak about the need to re-consider a whole range of economic agreements with Japan. Tokyo's demarche could simply ruin the work under way on these territories. It is necessary to follow the principle of good neighborly relations, includes in disputable issues," Torshin said.
For her part, Federation Council Deputy Speaker Svetlana Orlova told Interfax that Medvedev, as Russia's president, is duty-bound to visit all of the country's regions.
"The Kuril Islands are part of these regions as well. These islands are a very important segment of Russia's development in the Far East. There is no room for any hysterics regarding Dmitry Medvedev's visit to the Kuril Islands," Orlova said.
These islands are integral part of Russia, "and no one will ever hand them over to Japan, no matter what arguments the Japanese side offers," she said.
The head of the Federation Council Social Policy Committee, Valentina Petrenko, said that Tokyo's policy was not helping improve relations with Moscow, leading them to a deadlock.
"Tokyo's policies are unfriendly towards Russia. No one can ban the country's president from visiting any districts located on Russian territory. The head of state's visit is an exclusively internal affair, and any attempts to obstruct it are absolutely unacceptable," Petrenko said.
The Russian senator called on the Japanese authorities to follow a sensible, reserved and balanced approach, bearing in mind the strategic importance of relations between the two countries.
"Our country has every right to be called a superpower. Japan will not be able to promote relations with Russia if it [Japan] keeps insisting that these disputed islands belong to it," she said.
Japan has territorial disputes not only with Russia, but also with its neighbors in Northeast Asia, including South Korea and China, Petrenko said.
"Attempts to resolve the issue of the disputed territories with Russia acting through pressure have absolutely no prospects. Japanese politicians need to realize this," she said.