Japan furious over Putin's visit to archipelago

 

TT-AFP

 

Published 08.18

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin tastes caviar during his visit to a fish processing plant on Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands in Russia's Far East. Photo: Gavriil Grigorov/AP/TT

Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited the disputed Kuril Islands for the first time. The trip has triggered a "strong protest" from Japan, which also claims islands in the area.

According to Russian media, Putin visited a fish factory where he was offered caviar. He traveled to the Kurils after a visit to the nearby Russian island of Sakhalin, where the Russian navy was conducting military exercises.

Japan, whose relations with Russia have deteriorated since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, did not appreciate the visit.

“The Northern Territories ... are an inalienable part of Japan’s territory, both historically and under international law, and the Japanese government strongly protests this visit,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said in a statement.

“The Northern Territories” is Japan’s name for the southern Kuril Islands.

Relations between Russia and Japan have long been tense over the disputed islands, which have historically alternated between the two countries.

The Soviet Union took over the strategically located volcanic archipelago north of Japan in the closing days of World War II, and the Moscow regime has maintained a military presence there ever since.

Japan and the then Soviet Union never signed a formal peace treaty after World War II. One of the biggest obstacles was the unresolved issue of the Kuril Islands.