Moscow has firmly rejected Japan’s “unfounded” criticisms following President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Kuril Islands, a territory at the center of a decades-long dispute between the two nations. Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, condemned Japan’s remarks as “politically inappropriate, offensive, and, of course, legally unfounded.”
Highlighting what she termed an “anti-Russian policy bordering on hostility,” Zakharova asserted that the Kuril Islands were transferred to Russia at the end of World War II in accordance with agreements with the Allied powers and the United Nations Charter. She emphasized that “Russia’s sovereignty and jurisdiction over these islands are beyond doubt,” criticizing Japanese leaders for arrogantly dictating which regions of Russia’s own territory its supreme leader may visit.
In her statement, Zakharova noted that nearly 81 years after Japan’s unconditional surrender in September 1945, Tokyo remains obsessed with revisionist narratives aimed at absolving its historical aggression in Asia and making absurd claims against Russia.
She also took aim at Japan for its support of Ukraine and for imposing sanctions on Moscow, following the example of Western countries after the commencement of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine.
Putin’s trip to the Kuril Islands, which took place on Thursday, marked the first time a Russian president has visited the disputed territory. Japan has deemed the visit “absolutely unacceptable.”
During a statement from the Prime Minister’s office, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed that the visit “wounds the feelings of the Japanese people” and is “incompatible with Japan’s consistent position on the Northern Territories.”
Earlier, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi stated that the islands are “Japanese territory by nature, both historically and under international law,” and the Japanese government vehemently protests against this visit.
Japan claims four islands in the southern part of the archipelago that were captured by Soviet forces in 1945 during the final days of World War II. The Kuril Islands are located between Hokkaido in northern Japan and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Japan refers to the four southernmost islands as the “Northern Territories.”
The two countries have been embroiled in a territorial conflict over the Kuril Islands for decades, which remains the primary reason Moscow and Tokyo have not signed a peace treaty since World War II. Over the years, attempts to resolve the territorial dispute have yielded minimal progress, and bilateral relations have remained strained, especially after Japan imposed sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Japan has previously protested visits by Russian officials to these disputed islands, including those by Russian Prime Ministers Mikhail Mishustin and Dmitry Medvedev.
The Kuril Islands hold strategic significance for Russia, which has bolstered its military presence in the region over the past decade. Iturup Island serves as the primary military airbase for Russia in the area.
