Japan summons Russian ambassador over Putin's visit to disputed Iturup Island
Sanae Takaichi, Prime Minister of Japan (photo: Getty Images)
Iturup Island is an integral part of Japan, and Tokyo therefore condemns Russian President Vladimir Putin's uncoordinated visit to the territory, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said, according to Kyodo News.
Against the backdrop of recent developments, Takaichi reminded Russia and the world that the Northern Territories, including Iturup Island, belong exclusively to Japan.
She stressed that this is not only a matter of historical context but also of international law.
According to the prime minister, Putin's recent visit is "incompatible with Japan's consistent position" regarding its islands.
It also became known that Tokyo is immediately summoning the Russian Ambassador to Japan, Nikolay Nozdrev.
The Japanese government has already lodged a strong protest over Putin's visit to the island.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters that he had urged Nozdrev to convey Tokyo's protest to the Russian government. Nozdrev said in Japanese that he would refrain from commenting.
Japan maintains that the island chain, which includes Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and the Habomai group of islands, was illegally seized by the Soviet Union shortly after Tokyo's surrender in World War II. Russia, meanwhile, claims that the seizure was legal.
Putin visited Iturup Island, part of the Kuril archipelago and the subject of a territorial dispute with Japan, for the first time.
Tokyo immediately issued an official statement and made clear that it strongly protested Putin's visit.
The dispute between Russia and Japan over the sovereignty of these islands remains one of the main reasons the two countries have yet to conclude a peace treaty following World War II.
