Tokyo recalls Russian ambassador over Putin's visit to Kuril Islands

Japan summoned its Russian ambassador, Nikolai Nuzdriv, in protest over President Vladimir Putin's recent visit to Iturup Island in the Kuril archipelago, which Tokyo claims is "Japanese land".

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said in a statement: "This visit contradicts Japan's firm position on the Northern Territories issue and is deeply regrettable."

He added that, according to Japan's assessment, the visit leaves a "profoundly dangerous negative impact" on bilateral relations, which are already at a difficult stage, and "offends the feelings of the Japanese people and is utterly unacceptable".

The statement noted that Japan conveyed this stance to the Russian ambassador and demanded he immediately relay it to the Russian government.

President Putin recently visited Iturup Island, one of the southern Kuril Islands, during his tour of Russia's far eastern Sakhalin region near the border with Japan—the first time he has visited the islands.

Russian state and government leaders have previously visited the Kuril Islands five times. Dmitry Medvedev made four visits in 2010 while serving as Russia’s president, and in 2012, 2015, and 2019 while serving as prime minister. In 2021, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited Iturup Island.

It should be noted that Tokyo and Moscow signed an armistice agreement and a peace treaty in 1956 following Japan's defeat in World War II, but Japan never ratified the treaty.

Japan links the conclusion of peace to Moscow's return of the four Kuril Islands annexed by the Soviet Union after World War II.

Tokyo bases its claim on the 1855 Russo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Border, while Moscow maintains that its sovereignty over the islands is legitimate and the issue of their return is definitively closed.

Source: Novosti