Japan summons Russian envoy over Putin's island visit

Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Thursday summoned Russian Ambassador Nikolay Stanislavovich Nozdrev to formally protest President Vladimir Putin's visit to the disputed Iturup Island, the latest flare-up in the decades-old territorial dispute that has blocked a peace treaty since World War II.

Protest over Putin's visit

Putin traveled to Iturup earlier on Thursday during a trip to Russia's Far Eastern Sakhalin region, marking his first visit to the island chain located off Hokkaido. Motegi requested that Nozdrev convey the protest to Moscow "as soon as possible," according to Kyodo News.

World War II legacy

Tokyo maintains that the Northern Territories — comprising Iturup, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group — were "illegally" seized by the Soviet Union shortly after Japan's surrender on August 15, 1945. Russia, which refers to the islands as the Southern Kurils, defends the seizure as legitimate, leaving the two nations without a formal peace treaty for nearly eight decades.

Diplomatic freeze

Bilateral tensions have deepened in recent years as Tokyo maintains sanctions against Moscow over the Russia-Ukraine war, further complicating diplomatic efforts. The dispute has prevented the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries since World War II, with neither side showing willingness to compromise on sovereignty claims over the strategically significant islands.