Tokyo, Aug. 14 (SANA) Japan summoned Russia’s ambassador to protest President Vladimir Putin’s visit to a disputed island in the Kuril chain, Japanese authorities said Thursday.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tokyo strongly protested Putin’s visit to Etorofu, known as Iturup in Russian, reiterating Japan’s claim to the island.
“The Northern Territories, including Etorofu Island, are an inherent part of Japanese territory based on historical facts and international law,” Motegi said in a post on X.
Russian media reported earlier Thursday that Putin had visited the island, which lies in the Kuril chain near Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.
The territorial dispute has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a formal peace treaty ending their World War II hostilities.
The Soviet Union took control of the islands in 1945, and Moscow considers them Russian territory, while Tokyo claims the four southernmost islands, which it refers to as the Northern Territories.
Negotiations over the dispute have been effectively frozen since Japan imposed sanctions on Russia following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.
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