02/11/2010 12:41
Japan calls back Moscow envoy
Japan temporarily called its ambassador back from Russia on Tuesday but said a meeting between the leaders of both countries would likely go ahead despite growing anger in Tokyo over President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to a disputed island off Japan’s northern coast, ITAR-TASS said quoting Japan's Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara.
Medvedev’s trip to the island on Monday — the first by a Russian leader — elicited angry protests from Tokyo and came as Japan is embroiled in another heated territorial dispute with China over islands in the south.
Tokyo on Tuesday said it was temporarily bringing its ambassador to Moscow back to Japan to discuss the issue. It did not say how long the ambassador would remain.