Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s Prime Minister, called Vladimir Putin’s first visit to the disputed Kuril islands on Thursday “absolutely unacceptable”. According to Russian state media, Putin visited Iturup, also known in Japan as Etorofu, one of four Kuril islands claimed by Russia and Japan.
Putin’s visit “has worsened Japanese sentiment toward Russia,” Takaichi told reporters, insisting that the island chain was “a unique territory of [Japan] historically and under international law.” The countries have been at odds over the Kurils for decades, and it is the primary reason Moscow and Tokyo did not sign a peace treaty following World War II.
The Kuril islands are located between Hokkaido in northern Japan and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Japan claims four of the southernmost islands, referring to them as its Northern Territories. They are governed by Russia. At the end of WWII, the Soviet Union annexd the island chain and evacuated around 17,000 Japanese residents.
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