Putin's Visit to Disputed Island Sparks Fierce Protest from Japan

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Etorofu Island on Thursday, his first visit as president to the chain of islands controlled by Russia but claimed by Japan, located off the coast of Hokkaido.

Putin’s visit triggered a strong reaction from Tokyo, according to Russian news agency Tass.

Responding to the report, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi conveyed a message stating that Japan “strongly protests” the visit. He stressed that “the four Northern Territories, including Etorofu Island, are inherently Japanese territory, both historically and under international law.”

Japan maintains that the island chain, comprising Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the small Habomai island group, was illegally seized by the Soviet Union shortly after Japan surrendered in World War II. Russia, which calls the area the Southern Kurils, argues that the takeover was lawful.

Putin’s visit, coming nearly four and a half years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, appeared intended to signal to observers at home and abroad that Moscow will not make territorial concessions, including to Japan, which has called for the return of the disputed islands.

The territorial dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty after World War II.

Prospects for resuming negotiations on signing such a treaty remain slim, with few signs of improvement in bilateral relations after Japan joined the United States and other countries in imposing sanctions aimed at reducing Moscow’s war funding following the 2022 invasion.

The visit was Putin’s first, both as Russian president, a post he has held non-consecutively since 2000, and during the period from 2008 to 2012 when he served as prime minister.

Then-President Dmitry Medvedev became the first Russian head of state to visit the disputed islands when he travelled to Kunashiri Island in 2010.