Overview

• On August 4, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Ambassador Alexander Graf Lambsdorff to protest remarks by German Ambassador to Japan Petra Sigmund questioning Russia’s sovereignty over the southern Kuril Islands.
• Moscow’s protest note invoked the 80th anniversary of World War II to condemn Germany’s perceived support for Japan’s territorial claims under the UN-recognized post-war border.
• The German Embassy in Moscow rejected the accusations, stating Sigmund’s visit to Nemuro on Hokkaido did not challenge Russian sovereignty and reaffirmed Germany’s legal obligations.
• Lambsdorff used the summons to denounce Russia’s revisionism and its ongoing violation of European peace principles through the war in Ukraine.
• This confrontation follows a similar summoning in late June over alleged persecution of Russian journalists in Germany, highlighting an escalating pattern of reciprocal diplomatic measures.