Poroshenko draws parallel between Crimea, Russian-Japanese dispute over Kuril Islands

12:16, 06.06.2015 1 min read

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has thanked the Japanese government for its support of Kyiv's position on Crimea, drawing a parallel to the sovereignty of the Kuril Islands.

"This clear position [of Japan] can be explained in no small measure by the fact that Japan has the problem of the Kuril Islands, which were also annexed by Russia," Poroshenko said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

The Ukrainian authorities are interested in seeing "the entire world maintain a format of dialogue with Russian President Putin that would help find levers and motives to make Russia stops Crimea's annexation and aggression in Donbas and other places, where, unfortunately, Russian troops are present today," Poroshenko said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in on a visit to Kyiv on Saturday.