Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Iturup, one of the disputed Kuril Islands controlled by Moscow but claimed by Japan, prompting a strong diplomatic protest from Tokyo.
Putin toured a fish plant, hospital and school on the volcanic island and met with local residents and Sakhalin Region Governor Valery Limarenko.
Japan, which calls the island Etorofu, regards Iturup and three other southern Kuril Islands as its Northern Territories.
Japan asserts territorial rights over the four southernmost islands of the chain, which it calls the Northern Territories. The Soviet Union seized the islands from Japan in the final days of World War II, and the dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a formal peace treaty to end their wartime hostilities.
Decades of diplomatic efforts to resolve the territorial dispute have produced no visible breakthrough. Moscow has also strengthened its military presence on the Kuril Islands over the years, underscoring its firm position on the issue.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Japan “strongly protests” Putin’s visit to Iturup, describing the island as Japanese territory under both historical claims and international law.
Motegi summoned Russian Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo and lodged a strong protest, asking him to “promptly report the message back to Moscow,” the minister told reporters afterward.
The Russian Embassy in Japan later dismissed Tokyo’s protest as “unfounded,” saying Nozdrev had explained that the southern Kuril Islands are an integral part of Russia and became part of the country after World War II on legitimate international grounds.
The embassy added that Putin’s visits are “sovereign decisions of the Russian leadership” and cannot be subject to discussion with foreign governments. Japan also protested in 2021 when then-Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited Iturup.
Putin has visited several regions across Siberia and Russia’s Far East in recent days. Before travelling to Iturup, he stopped on Sakhalin Island, where he attended the final stage of exercises involving Russia’s Pacific Fleet.
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Speaking aboard a warship participating in the naval exercises, Putin said the current status of the Kuril Islands “is enshrined in international documents as a reality that arose following the outcome of World War II.” He said Moscow remained willing to seek a solution aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Japan.
Putin also recalled what he described as constructive relations between Moscow and several Japanese leaders, including former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who he said had worked to bring Japan and Russia closer and align their positions.
However, Putin said Japan’s imposition of sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as well as Tokyo’s designation of Russia as a source of primary threats, had changed the relationship between the two countries.
He said Russia remained ready to “cooperate with all its neighbors, including Japan and other states in the region.”
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Putin’s visit was “incompatible with the Japanese position on the Northern Territories” and “absolutely unacceptable.”
Takaichi said the visit had further strained already difficult relations between Japan and Russia over the war in Ukraine and warned that Moscow should understand the consequences.
“We must say this visit has further hardened Japanese public sentiment toward Russia and has made it more difficult to restore bilateral relations in the medium to long term,” she said. “We hope the Russian side fully understands the seriousness of this.”
Japan has sought to maintain some ties with Russia partly to enable former Japanese residents of the disputed islands to return and pay respects at the graves of relatives as a humanitarian measure.
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and prime minister who now serves as deputy chairman of the country’s Security Council, responded to Takaichi’s remarks on X, saying, “This chatter won’t change a thing.”
The Kuril Islands “were, are, and will remain Russian land,” Medvedev, who visited the islands four times while serving as president and prime minister, wrote. He added that anyone who failed to understand this would face “the monstrous consequences of their delusion.”
AP News
