Japan Strongly Protests Putin's First-Ever Visit to Disputed Kuril Islands

The Japanese government issued a strong protest after Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first-ever visit to the Kuril Islands, a territory claimed by both nations.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi posted on X (formerly Twitter) immediately following Putin's visit to the islands, stating, "The Northern Territories, including Etorofu Island, are inherently Japanese territory both historically and under international law, and Japan strongly protests this visit."

Japan refers to the four islands located north of Hokkaido and at the southern tip of the Russian Kuril Islands—Kunashir, Etorofu, Shikotan, and Habomai—as the Northern Territories, and has been locked in a territorial dispute with Russia over them.

According to Russian state media TASS and AFP, President Putin, who is currently touring Siberia and the Far East, directly visited the Kuril Islands, inspected the flagship of the Russian Pacific Fleet, and received a briefing on exercises.


President Putin subsequently held a meeting with Sakhalin Oblast Governor Valery Limarenko and visited a seafood processing plant, a hospital, and a school on Etorofu Island.

While Dmitry Medvedev, a close confidant of Putin and then-Russian security council deputy chairman, visited the area in 2010 as the first Russian leader to do so during his presidency, President Putin himself had not previously visited the region directly.

A Japanese government official told the Yomiuri Shimbun, "We will figure out the true intent behind President Putin's visit to the Northern Territories and review our future response."

The newspaper analyzed that with the war between Russia and Ukraine nearing four and a half years, the move appears intended to demonstrate domestically and internationally Russia's unwavering stance regarding territorial disputes.

During his visit the previous day to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the Russian Far East, close to Japan, President Putin publicly expressed dissatisfaction, stating, "Japan failed to properly grasp the root causes of the Ukraine situation and imposed unilateral sanctions against Russia."

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sent a message of support last month to a meeting of leaders of the "Coalition of the Willing" for Ukraine held in Paris, France, expressing her intention to continue supporting Ukraine and enforcing sanctions against Russia in coordination with the international community.

During his visit to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, President Putin also remarked, "We are not threatening Japan and are not making any territorial claims against Japan."

This was a pointed reference to the defense white paper released earlier this month by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet, which expressed concern over the military alignment among Russia, North Korea, and China.

Last month, Prime Minister Takaichi met with descendants of former residents who had lived in the Kuril Islands before being expelled by the Soviet Union, stating, "Our stance to resolve the issue of the Northern Territories' sovereignty and sign a peace treaty remains unchanged."

The Kuril Islands currently have a population of only 20,000, but the region is rich in mineral resources such as gold and silver, as well as fisheries resources in the surrounding waters.

No Japanese citizens have lived there since the former Soviet Union occupied the area near the end of World War II in 1945, expelled the Japanese residents, and stationed military forces.

(Photo: Getty Images) (Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.