Putin makes first presidential visit to disputed Kuril Islands, triggering diplomatic protests from Japan and US backing

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Kuril Islands on Thursday, August 13, marking the first time he has traveled to the disputed archipelago as president. Putin first stopped in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Sakhalin Island on Wednesday, where he chaired a session on the security of Russia's eastern borders and visited a hospital. The following day he traveled to Iturup, one of the volcanic islands in the chain, where he inspected the cruiser Varyag, flagship of the Russian Pacific Fleet, and toured a fish processing plant and a school. The Russian Pacific Fleet had launched large naval exercises in the area one day before Putin's arrival.

Japan claims the four southernmost islands of the archipelago, which it calls the Northern Territories, considering them an integral part of Japanese territory under international law. The islands were annexed by the Soviet Union in the final days of World War II, and the territorial dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty for over eight decades.

Japan's reaction

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the visit "absolutely unacceptable," saying it wounds the feelings of the Japanese people and is incompatible with Japan's position on the Northern Territories. She noted that Tokyo had previously asked Moscow not to organize a presidential visit to the area.

“This visit has further intensified the anti-Russian sentiment within Japan and has made the restoration of relations more difficult, both in the medium and long term. We want the Russian side to recognize the seriousness of this.”

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi issued a formal protest, reiterating that the Northern Territories, including Etorofu (the Japanese name for Iturup), constitute inherent Japanese territory both historically and under international law. Russian Ambassador Nikolai Nozdrev was summoned to the Japanese Foreign Ministry to receive the protest. The Russian embassy in Tokyo rejected the démarche, stating that the Southern Kurils are an integral part of Russia and that the president's movements within Russian territory are a sovereign decision.

Russia's response

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the Japanese criticism as "politically irrelevant, offensive, and of course legally baseless." She accused Tokyo of pursuing an "anti-Russian policy that borders on hostility" and said the islands were transferred to Russia at the end of World War II based on agreements with the Allied powers and the UN Charter.

“The sovereignty and jurisdiction of Russia over these islands is not subject to question.”

Zakharova accused Tokyo of "arrogantly dictating to Moscow which regions of its own country the supreme leader can or cannot visit." Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev responded to Takaichi on X, writing that the Kuriles are and will remain Russian land and that anyone who fails to understand this will suffer the monstrous consequences of their delusion.

United States weighs in

US Ambassador to Tokyo George Glass expressed Washington's support for Japan, stating that the United States recognizes Japan's national sovereignty over the Northern Territories. Glass, using the Japanese name for the islands, said the US opposes any action that could undermine peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

Historical background

The dispute dates to 1945, when the Soviet Union annexed the islands in the closing days of World War II. Japan signed the act of unconditional surrender in September 1945. The last visit by a Russian president to the islands was in 2010, when Dmitry Medvedev became the first Russian leader to travel there, provoking anger in Tokyo. He returned in 2019 as prime minister. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Japan for the first time since 2003 described the Kurils as "illegally occupied" by Russia. In 2025, Tokyo protested Russian live-fire military exercises around the Kurils, saying part of the activity took place in Japanese territorial waters.