Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first personal visit to the disputed Kuril Islands on August 13, traveling to Iturup – known as Etorofu in Japanese – and triggering a sharp diplomatic response from Tokyo that includes consideration of new sanctions.
The visit marked the first time a sitting Russian president has set foot on the islands, which Japan claims as its own Northern Territories. Putin toured the Yasny fish processing factory, visited a local school named after a Hero of Russia, and met with residents on Iturup, the largest of the four southernmost islands in the Kuril chain. The trip came just days after Putin oversaw Russian Pacific Fleet military exercises in the Far East region.
Tokyo summons ambassador, calls visit ‘absolutely unacceptable’
Japan’s response was swift and forceful. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the islands are “an inherent part of Japanese territory both historically and under international law,” and described the visit as “totally unacceptable.” The Japanese Foreign Ministry summoned Russia’s ambassador to Tokyo and lodged a formal protest. A senior ministry official told reporters that Japan is “considering what step to take going forward,” with an additional sanctions package under active discussion, according to Kyodo News.
The Institute for the Study of War assessed that the Kremlin is likely using the visit to deter Japan from adopting a more assertive defense posture and to discourage EU seizures of Russian shadow-fleet vessels, tying the Pacific island dispute directly to the broader pressure campaign around Russia’s war on Ukraine.
An 80-year dispute with no peace treaty
Russia and Japan have never signed a peace treaty ending World War II, entirely because of the Kuril Islands dispute. The Soviet Union seized the four southernmost islands – Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and the Habomai islets – in the final weeks of the war, expelling Japanese residents. Japan has never dropped its claim to the territory.
Putin’s visit arrives as Japan’s posture toward Moscow hardens. Tokyo’s 2026 Defense White Paper, published earlier this month, named Russia as one of the country’s principal threats – a document Putin criticized directly, saying the islands became Russian territory “as a result of World War II” and accusing Japan of imposing “unprovoked sanctions” over what he called the “Ukraine conflict.” The timing also undercuts the diplomatic track Tokyo pursued for years under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi’s political mentor, who met Putin 27 times seeking a peace treaty.
Ukraine has already staked out a position in the dispute: Kyiv’s parliament in 2022 recognized the islands as Japanese territory, and President Zelenskyy signed a decree affirming Japan’s sovereignty over its “Northern territories” – a reciprocal gesture in the broader alignment between Kyiv and Tokyo against Moscow.
The precedent for a symbolic response exists: in 2010, then-President Dmitry Medvedev visited Kunashir, drawing formal protest without derailing bilateral contact entirely. But Putin’s visit as sitting president, arriving alongside Russia’s sustained wartime footing rather than peacetime diplomacy, represents a harder marker that may close even the pretense of near-term peace treaty negotiations.
Sources: Kyodo News; The Guardian; Euromaidan Press; Reuters; The Institute for the Study of War
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