Russia-Japan diplomatic row escalates over Putin's Iturup visit; ambassador snub

INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY

🇷🇺🇯🇵 Sergey Lavrov has publicly complained that Japan’s ambassador in Moscow repeatedly failed to appear after being summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, as the diplomatic row over Vladimir Putin’s visit to disputed Iturup escalated. Lavrov said the embassy first hesitated and then offered different explanations, including that Ambassador Akira Muto was either outside Moscow or unwell. “In the end, we never figured out what was going on,” he complained. 🇯🇵 Tokyo’s anger followed Put