MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) - The level of Japan's sovereignty with respect to decisions on hosting U.S. military infrastructure is not clear, President Vladimir Putin said at his annual press conference on Thursday.
"You mentioned the deployment of U.S. military infrastructure in Japan. But it is already there. A major U.S. base has been present on Okinawa for decades," Putin said.
"As for Japan's ability to participate in the making of such decisions [on the possible deployment of additional U.S. bases in Japan], we are not clear on that. We are unaware of the degree of Japan's sovereignty in such decisions," he said.
The governor of Okinawa "has spoken out against the reinforcement and expansion of the [U.S.] base, but he can do nothing about it. The local population is also against it, opinion polls show. People take to the streets to demand the withdrawal of this base, they object to the strengthening of the air force component of the U.S. contingent," Putin said.
"Everyone is against it, but it's still happening," he said.