Japan protests Putin's first visit to disputed islands

AFP | Moscow

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President Vladimir Putin visited Russia's far-eastern Kuril islands for the first time yesterday, prompting protests by Japan which also claims the territory.

The Kremlin posted a video of Putin on one of the four main islands, with Russian media saying he visited a fish-processing plant and showing him trying local caviar.

It was the first visit by a Russian president since Dmitry Medvedev in 2010.

"The Northern Territories are an inherent part of Japan's territory, both historically and under international law," Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters.

Putin's visit "offends the sentiments of the Japanese people and is absolutely unacceptable," she said, adding that it "made it more difficult to restore relations in the medium to long term."

Putin travelled to the Kuril Islands after visiting the nearby Russian island of Sakhalin on Wednesday, where Russia's navy was conducting drills. In Sakhalin, Putin, 73, held a meeting "on ensuring the security of Russia's eastern borders," state media reported.

After the visit to the Kuril Islands, Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi summoned Russian ambassador to Japan Nikolai Nozdrev to lodge a "strong protest" against Putin's surprise move.

Motegi told the ambassador in the meeting that Putin's visit would "have an extremely negative impact on Japan-Russia relations" already complicated by Moscow's offensive on Ukraine, according to the ministry's statement.

Russia's embassy in Japan said the ambassador had said the islands were "an integral part of the Russian Federation," that their "status is not subject to doubt" and that Putin's travel there was not "a matter for discussion with foreign states".