Russia summons Japan ambassador over disputed Kuril Islands row after Putin visit

President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the island of Iturup on August 13 was routine in some respects.

On Thursday Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s prime minister, called Putin’s actions “absolutely unacceptable” and Russia’s ambassador in Tokyo was immediately called in for a dressing down.

Moscow calls Iturup an integral part of Russian territory, while Japan calls it Etorofu and maintains it is part of its “Northern Territories,” claiming it on historical and legal grounds.

Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by the islands seized by the Soviet Union in 1945 at the end of World War II.