MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to Iturup on Thursday, marking his first visit to the Kuril Islands, which are administered by Russia but remain the subject of a territorial claim by Japan. The trip prompted a strong diplomatic objection from Tokyo.
During his stay on Iturup, one of the southern islands in the Kuril chain, Putin toured a fish-processing facility, a hospital and a school. He also interacted briefly with island residents and held talks with Valery Limarenko, governor of Russia’s Sakhalin region.
Japan maintains its claim over four islands at the southern end of the Kuril chain – Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group – which Tokyo collectively refers to as the Northern Territories. The Soviet Union took control of the islands in the closing stages of World War II. The unresolved territorial disagreement has been a major obstacle to Moscow and Tokyo formally concluding a postwar peace treaty.
Repeated diplomatic attempts over several decades have failed to settle the sovereignty dispute. Russia has also expanded its military presence and infrastructure on the Kuril Islands over the years, reinforcing Moscow’s position that the territory is under Russian control. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tokyo had lodged a strong protest over Putin’s presence on Iturup, known as Etorofu in Japan. He reiterated Japan’s position that the Northern Territories, including Iturup, belong to Japan on both historical and international-law grounds.
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