Japan protests Putin's first-ever visit to disputed Kuril Islands

Russian President Vladimir Putin (center) visits the Kuril Islands on Thursday, inspecting the missile cruiser Varyag, a flagship of the Pacific Fleet, and encouraging its officers and crew. [AP]

Japan's government issued an immediate and strongly worded protest Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first-ever visit to the Kuril Islands, a chain at the center of a long-running territorial dispute between the two countries.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi posted on X, formerly Twitter, shortly after Putin's arrival, condemning the visit. "The Northern Territories, including Etorofu Island, are Japan's inherent territory both historically and under international law," Motegi wrote. "Japan strongly protests this visit."

Japan refers to four islands at the southern end of the Russian-held Kuril chain — Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan and Habomai — as its Northern Territories and claims them as its own. Russia maintains that the islands became Russian territory as a result of World War II. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan in the final days of the conflict in 1945 and seized the Kuril Islands, subsequently expelling the Japanese residents and deploying military forces to consolidate its control.

According to Russia's state-run Tass news agency and AFP, Putin, who is on a tour of Siberia and the Russian Far East, visited the Kuril Islands on Thursday, inspecting the flagship of Russia's Pacific Fleet and receiving a briefing on military exercises. He then held a meeting with Sakhalin Governor Valery Limarenko before visiting a seafood processing factory, a hospital and a school on Etorofu Island.

This marks Putin's first visit to the Kuril Islands. His close ally and predecessor Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, became the first Russian head of state to visit the islands when he traveled there in 2010 while serving as president.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi answers reporters' questions. Motegi on Thursday condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to the Kuril Islands, calling them "Japan's inherent territory." [Getty Images]

On Wednesday, during a stop in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in Russia's Far East near Japan, Putin publicly criticized Tokyo, saying Japan had imposed one-sided sanctions on Russia without properly understanding the root causes of the Ukraine conflict.

The remarks appeared directed at Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who last month sent a message of support to a "Coalition of the Willing" summit in Paris focused on backing Ukraine, pledging to continue supporting Ukraine and maintaining sanctions against Russia in coordination with the international community. Takaichi also met last month with descendants of former residents who had lived on the Kuril Islands before being expelled by the Soviet Union, telling them Japan's position of resolving the question of sovereignty over the Northern Territories and concluding a peace treaty remained unchanged.

A Japanese government official told the Yomiuri Shimbun on Thursday that Tokyo would assess Putin's true intentions behind the visit before deciding on its next steps.

Putin's visit to the Kuril Islands — coming as the Russia-Ukraine war approaches the four-and-a-half-year mark — appears intended to signal to both domestic and international audiences that Russia will not compromise on territorial disputes.

The Kuril Islands have a population of only about 20,000, but are rich in mineral resources including gold and silver, as well as marine resources in the surrounding waters.

kate01@heraldcorp.com