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Japan\u2019s \u201cmilitarisation\u201d complicates the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, deputy chair of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said.<\/p>\n
Russia and Japan have complex relations marked by decades of territorial dispute over a handful of small, Russian-held islands off Hokkaido that Moscow calls the southern Kurils, but Japan claims as its Northern Territories.<\/p>\n
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Dmitry Medvedev (left) visits a military outpost on Iturup Island in 2015 when he was prime minister.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Reuters<\/cite><\/p>\n The dispute over the area, which the Soviet Union seized in the final days of World War Two, has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from reaching a peace treaty formally ending hostilities.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is regrettable that the Japanese authorities are pursuing a course towards a new militarisation of the country,\u201d the Russian TASS news agency quoted Medvedev as saying on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cTroop exercises are taking place near the Kuril Islands, which seriously complicates the situation in the Asia-Pacific region.\u201d<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s foreign ministry and Prime Minister\u2019s Office could not immediately be reached for comment outside business hours.<\/p>\n Russia decided this year to declare September 3 \u2013 the day after Japan\u2019s surrender in World War Two \u2013 a \u201cDay of Victory over Militaristic Japan\u201d, spurring a protest from Tokyo.<\/p>\n Medvedev said Japan, with help from the United States, was expanding its military infrastructure and increasing its arms purchases.<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s defence ministry on Thursday sought a record $53 billion in next fiscal year\u2019s budget, part of its biggest military buildup since World War Two, aiming to double defence spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product by 2027, citing an increasingly assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea.<\/p>\n