Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first visit to the Kuril Islands, travelling to Iturup in the Moscow-controlled Pacific chain also claimed by Japan. He visited a fish-processing plant, hospital and school, spoke with residents and met Sakhalin regional governor Valery Limarenko.
Japan claims the four southernmost islands, which it calls the Northern Territories and refers to Iturup as Etorofu. The Soviet Union seized the islands from Japan in the final days of World War II. The unresolved sovereignty dispute has prevented Moscow and Tokyo from signing a treaty formally ending wartime hostilities.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi summoned Russian Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev and lodged a strong protest. Motegi said the islands are inherent Japanese territory from both historical and international-law perspectives and asked the ambassador to deliver Tokyo's position directly to Moscow.
Russia rejected the protest as unfounded. Its embassy said the southern Kurils became a legitimate part of the Russian Federation as a result of World War II and described presidential travel as a sovereign decision that cannot be discussed with foreign states. Moscow has also strengthened military infrastructure across the archipelago over time.
Putin arrived after visiting Sakhalin and observing the final stage of exercises by Russia's Pacific Fleet. Aboard a participating warship, he said the islands' current status was established in international documents after the war, while maintaining that Russia had previously been prepared to seek a solution and conclude a peace treaty with Japan.
The Russian president recalled constructive relations with former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He contrasted that period with Tokyo's sanctions after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and Japan's subsequent treatment of Russia as a major security threat, while saying Moscow remained open to cooperation with regional neighbours.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the visit absolutely unacceptable and incompatible with Tokyo's position. She warned that it would harden Japanese public sentiment toward Russia and make a restoration of bilateral relations more difficult in the medium and long term. Humanitarian visits by former Japanese residents to family graves are also affected by the deteriorating relationship.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev answered that Japanese objections would not change Russian control and insisted the islands would remain Russian. The exchange shows how the dispute has moved further away from the compromises explored in earlier decades: Putin's visit was both a domestic inspection and an explicit assertion of sovereignty amid already damaged ties over Ukraine.
