Kremlin says it disagrees with Japan's sovereignty claim over islands

FILE PHOTO: Japan Coast Guard vessel PS08 Kariba sails off Cape Nosappu, easternmost point in Japan, in Nemuro on Hokkaido island, as part of a group of islands known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kuriles in Russia can be seen in the background April 14, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday it disagreed with comments by new Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that Japan's sovereignty extended to a chain of islands known by Tokyo as the Northern Territories, and that they were in fact part of Russia.

"We do not agree with such a statement," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.