PUTIN STEPS ON DISPUTED ISLAND — JAPAN RESPONDS WITH A FURIOUS PROTEST

PUTIN STEPS ON DISPUTED ISLAND — JAPAN RESPONDS WITH A FURIOUS PROTEST  Vladimir Putin has made his first visit to Iturup, one of the southern Kuril Islands controlled by Russia but claimed by Japan, immediately reigniting one of Asia’s longest-running territorial disputes. Japan calls the island Etorofu and considers it, along with Kunashiri, Shikotan […]

PUTIN STEPS ON DISPUTED ISLAND — JAPAN RESPONDS WITH A FURIOUS PROTEST

 Vladimir Putin has made his first visit to Iturup, one of the southern Kuril Islands controlled by Russia but claimed by Japan, immediately reigniting one of Asia’s longest-running territorial disputes.

Japan calls the island Etorofu and considers it, along with Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islets, part of its Northern Territories. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the visit unacceptable, while Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi reiterated that the islands are Japanese territory historically and under international law.

Putin toured local facilities and treated the visit as ordinary Russian domestic business. Tokyo sees it very differently.

The Soviet Union seized the islands in the final days of World War II, and the dispute has remained unresolved ever since. Because of it, Japan and Russia still have never signed a full peace treaty formally ending their wartime hostilities.

The timing only adds to the tension. Putin’s visit follows Russian military activity in the Far East and comes as relations with Japan remain badly strained over Tokyo’s support for Ukraine and sanctions against Moscow.

For Japan, this was not a sightseeing trip.

It was Putin deliberately setting foot on territory Tokyo still considers its own.

And Japan made sure Moscow heard exactly what it thought about it.