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<\/p>\nFILE – Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrives for the EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Omar Havana, File)<\/p>\n
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MOSCOW (AP) \u2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday made his first visit to the Kuril Islands, a Moscow-controlled Pacific archipelago that also is claimed by Japan, which voiced a diplomatic protest over the trip.<\/p>\n
Putin visited a fish plant, a hospital and a school on Iturup, one of the volcanic chain’s southern islands. He also briefly spoke to local residents and met with the governor of Russia’s Sakhalin region, Valery Limarenko.<\/p>\n
Japan asserts territorial rights to the four southernmost islands of the chain, which it calls the Northern Territories. The Soviet Union took them from Japan in the final days of World War II, and the dispute kept the countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities.<\/p>\n
Decades of diplomatic efforts to negotiate a settlement haven\u2019t produced any visible results. Moscow over the years has also bolstered its military presence on the Kurils in moves that appeared to underscore its firm stance in the dispute.<\/p>\n
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said his country \u201cstrongly protests\u201d Putin’s visit to Iturup, which Japan calls Etorofu.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Northern Territories, including Etorofu (Iturup) Island, are Japan\u2019s inherent territory both historically and from the perspective of international law,\u201d Motegi said in a statement.<\/p>\n
He summoned Russian Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev to the ministry in Tokyo and lodged a strong protest over the visit, requesting that he “promptly report the message back to Moscow,\u201d the minister told reporters afterward.<\/p>\n
Later Thursday, the Russian Embassy in Japan called Tokyo’s protest \u201cunfounded\u201d and said Nozdrev had explained that \u201cthe southern Kuril Islands are an integral part of the Russian Federation and became part of it following World War II on legitimate international grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Putin’s travels are \u201csovereign decisions of the Russian leadership and can’t be subject to discussion with foreign states,” the statement added.<\/p>\n
Japan also protested in 2021 when Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited Iturup.<\/p>\n
Putin in recent days has visited several regions in Siberia and the Far East. Before coming to Iturup, he stopped on Sakhalin Island to attend the final part of drills by Russia’s Pacific Fleet.<\/p>\n
Speaking aboard a warship that was participating in the naval exercises, Putin said Wednesday that the current status of the Kuril Islands \u201cis enshrined in international documents as a reality that arose following the outcome of World War II.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut even here, Russia was prepared to seek a solution with the goal of concluding a peace treaty with Japan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Putin said that in the past, Moscow \u201chad developed constructive relations with a number of Japanese leaders, including the tragically deceased former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who did much to bring Japan and Russia closer together, to align our positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Japan imposed sanctions on Russia after it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and \u201clisted Russia as a source of primary threats,\u201d a change in that constructive relationship, he added.<\/p>\n
Russia remains ready \u201cto cooperate with all its neighbors, including Japan and other states in the region,\u201d Putin said.<\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Putin\u2019s visit is \u201cincompatible with the Japanese position on the Northern Territories\u201d and is \u201cabsolutely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the visit was a further blow to the already-strained ties between the two countries over Ukraine, and that Moscow should understand the consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must say this visit has further hardened Japanese public sentiment toward Russia and has made it more difficult to restore bilateral relations in the medium to long term,\u201d she said. \u201cWe hope the Russian side fully understands the seriousness of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the reasons Japan has made the effort to maintain ties with Russia is to allow former Japanese residents to return to the islands and pay tribute at their graves as a humanitarian consideration.<\/p>\n
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and prime minister who now serves as deputy chair of the country’s Security Council, responded to Takaichi’s remarks on X by saying, \u201cThis chatter won’t change a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Kuril Islands \u201cwere, are, and will remain Russian land,\u201d Medvedev, who himself visited the Kuril Islands four times as president and prime minister, wrote. \u201cAnyone who fails to understand this will face the monstrous consequences of their delusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed.<\/p>\n
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, right, speaks to reporters after he summoned Russian Ambassador to Japan Nikolay Nozdev, not pictured, in Tokyo Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Kenzaburo Fukuhara\/Kyodo News via AP)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Russian Ambassador to Japan Nikolay Nozdev, left, arrives at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Kenzaburo Fukuhara\/Kyodo News via AP)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, interacts with schoolchildren as he visits a secondary school named after Eduard Norpolov in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s far-east, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Russian President Vladimir Putin, second left, visits a secondary school named after Eduard Norpolov in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s far-east, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, visits the central district hospital at Kitovoye village on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s fareast, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n
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