TOKYO: Japan described four disputed islands as "illegally occupied" by Russia for the first time in nearly two decades on Friday as ties sour between the countries over the war in Ukraine. The two nations have long been engaged in attempts to agree a post-World War II treaty, but the islands held by Moscow and claimed by Tokyo remain a key sticking point. Japan’s foreign ministry last used the expression in its annual policy report in 2003 to describe the islands, which Moscow calls the Kurils and Tokyo the Northern Territories.