Japan protests Putin visit to disputed islands
Japan has strongly protested President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Iturup, one of the disputed Kuril islands claimed by both Russia and Japan. The visit matters because the long-running territorial dispute has prevented Moscow and Tokyo from signing a formal peace treaty since the end of the Second World War.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the islands were inherently Japanese territory historically and under international law, and called the visit unacceptable. Russian state media said it was Putin’s first visit to the Kuril islands; the island is known as Iturup in Russia and Etorofu in Japan.
- Japan protests Putin’s visit to disputed Iturup island
- Kuril dispute has lasted decades
- It still blocks a post-war peace treaty
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The Kuril islands are a chain in the north-west Pacific between Japan and Russia. Japan and Russia both claim several of the southern islands, including Iturup, which Japan calls Etorofu.
The Soviet Union took control of the islands at the end of the Second World War in 1945. Russia has administered them since then, while Japan says its claim is based on earlier history and legal agreements.
The disagreement has had an unusual consequence: Japan and Russia have never signed a formal treaty ending their wartime hostilities. The issue has remained a sensitive obstacle to closer relations between the two countries.