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Agence France-Presse

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited on Thursday Russia’s far eastern Kuril Islands for the first time, prompting a “strong” protest by Japan, which also claims the territory, and drawing diplomatic backing for Tokyo from the United States.
Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by tensions over the contested islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized by the Soviet Union in 1945.
The Kremlin posted a video of Putin in the Kuril Islands, with Russian media saying he visited a fish-processing plant where he was given caviar.
Putin travelled to the Kurils after visiting the nearby Russian island of Sakhalin, where Russia’s navy was conducting drills.
In Sakhalin, Putin held a meeting “on ensuring the security of Russia’s eastern borders”, RIA Novosti said.
Japan issued a stern condemnation.
“This visit … by the sitting Russian president goes against Japan’s consistent position on the Northern Territories,” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters, saying Putin’s trip “offends the sentiments of the Japanese people and is absolutely unacceptable”, adding that it “made it more difficult to restore relations in the medium to long term”.
After the visit to the Kuril Islands, Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi summoned Russian ambassador to Japan Nikolai Nozdrev to lodge a “strong protest” against Putin’s surprise move.
Motegi told the ambassador in the meeting that Putin’s visit would “have an extremely negative impact on Japan-Russia relations” already complicated by Moscow’s offensive on Ukraine, according to the ministry’s statement.
The United States ambassador to Japan said on social media that Washington “remains unwavering in its support of its most important ally and in its recognition of Japanese sovereignty over the Northern Territories”.
“At a time when the US-Japan Alliance is dedicated to cultivating prosperity across the Indo-Pacific, we strongly oppose any action that undermines its peace and stability,” George Glass added.
Russia’s embassy in Japan said the ambassador had said the islands were “an integral part of the Russian Federation,” that their “status is not subject to doubt” and that Putin’s travel there was not “a matter for discussion with foreign states”.

Ties have worsened since the full-scale conflict in Ukraine began in 2022, with Japan joining other G7 countries in sanctioning Russia and giving money and non-lethal defence aid to Kyiv.
Putin on Wednesday called Japan’s sanctions “unprovoked”.
“Japan has identified Russia as a main source of threats. I would like to point out that we are not threatening Japan … On the contrary, it has territorial claims against our country,” Putin said.
Russia and China have also moved closer, with their navies and air forces conducting joint exercises in areas around Japan, prompting Japanese jets to scramble hundreds of times a year.
North Korea, which this month termed Japan’s military build-up a “transformation into a war state”, has also sent troops and artillery shells to help Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Japan’s latest defence white paper issued this month again highlighted growing risks from all three countries.
The New York Times reported in July that Russia had turned Japan into a “den of spies” and a major source of dual-use technology needed for its war in Ukraine.
The Soviet Union took the strategically located volcanic archipelago north of Hokkaido in the final days of World War II, and has maintained a military presence there ever since.
In 2010, then president Dmitry Medvedev became the first Russian leader to visit the disputed territory. Medvedev also went there several times subsequently as prime minister.
The four contested isles are part of the volcanic Kuril archipelago, which runs in a broad arc from Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula down to Japan’s main northern island Hokkaido.
The Soviet Union only declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945, after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and six days before the end of the conflict.

The islands’ names are similar in both countries – Kunashir, Habomai, Shikotan and Iturup in Russian, while in Japanese they are known as Kunashiri, Habomai, Shikotan and Etorofu.
Their population of about 20,000 Russian citizens lives in a harsh climate, but the islands have mineral deposits including gold and silver, and rich fishing grounds.
After the islands were occupied in 1945, Moscow deported their Japanese population of about 17,000 people.
Thereafter the islands acquired strategic importance, providing air and sea bases during the Cold War as the Soviet Union confronted the United States and its closest ally in the Pacific, Japan.


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Russia

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin oversees the final stage of the Pacific Fleet’s naval drills from on board a Russian Navy ship off the far eastern Sakhalin Island on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Russia’s President Putin talks to the crew as he visits the Russian Navy’s guided missile cruiser Varyag during the final stage of the Pacific Fleet’s naval drills on the far eastern Sakhalin Island on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Russia’s President Putin holds a meeting on ensuring the security of Russia’s eastern borders on board the Russian Navy’s guided missile cruiser Varyag on the far eastern Sakhalin Island on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Russian President Putin shakes hands with officers on board the Russian Navy’s guided missile cruiser Varyag during the final stage of the Pacific Fleet’s naval drills on far eastern Sakhalin Island on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Russia’s President Putin oversees the final stage of the Pacific Fleet’s naval drills from on board the Russian Navy’s guided missile cruiser Varyag off the far eastern Sakhalin Island on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

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The KM-SAM Cheongung missile system on display during the Seoul International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition in Seongnam last year. Photo: AFP

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on Saturday. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Ukrainian servicemen practice flying drones in a training centre at an undisclosed location in March. Photo: AFP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks in April at the launch of a museum to mark the first anniversary of the conclusion of a military operation in the Kursk region of Russia. Photo: EPA

Japan slams North Korea’s ballistic missile firing ahead of US-Seoul drills

News coverage showing footage of a North Korean missile launch on a screen at a railway station in Seoul. On Wednesday, Japan’s defence ministry said North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile towards the sea outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Photo: AFP

US soldiers cross a floating bridge on the Imjin River during a joint exercise with South Korea in Yeoncheon last year. Photo: AP

Japan’s Takaichi stops short of clear pledge to maintain non-nuclear principles

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi looks on during a memorial at the Peace Memorial Ceremony, on the 81st anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb, at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. Photo: JIJI Press / AFP

People offer prayers for the victims ahead of the Peace Memorial Ceremony on the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. Photo: EPA/JIJI Press

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A woman looks at an electronic screen showing current and recent Japanese yen exchange rates against the US dollar on Monday. Photo: Reuters

A man walks past a board showing the US dollar and Japanese yen exchange rate at a securities firm in Tokyo on Monday. Photo: AFP

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The Russian president inspected the Pacific fleet on his first trip to the disputed archipelago, prompting Tokyo to consider fresh sanctions and drawing US backing


The Russian president inspected the Pacific fleet on his first trip to the disputed archipelago, prompting Tokyo to consider fresh sanctions and drawing US backing.


Ukraine

Japan

Dmitry Medvedev

Vladimir Putin

Russia’s Putin makes first visit to Kuril Islands claimed by Japan

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Russian president inspected the Pacific fleet on his first trip to the disputed archipelago, prompting Tokyo to consider fresh sanctions and drawing US backing

The Russian president inspected the Pacific fleet on his first trip to the disputed archipelago, prompting Tokyo to consider fresh sanctions and drawing US backing