Japan is considering taking some measure against Russia, following President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Etorofu Island, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Friday.
Putin made his first trip to the Russian-controlled, Japanese-claimed island chain off Hokkaido as president or prime minister Thursday, drawing a backlash from Tokyo, which called it “totally unacceptable.”
“We are considering what step to take going forward,” the official told reporters. An additional sanction is believed to be under consideration.
The islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and by Russia as the Southern Kurils, have long been at the center of a territorial row between the countries. The visit came as ties between Japan and Russia remain strained amid Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Japan maintains that the island chain, consisting of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group, was illegally seized by the Soviet Union soon after Japan’s surrender in World War II. Russia argues the seizure was legitimate.
On Thursday, the Japanese government summoned Nikolay Nozdrev, Russia’s ambassador in Tokyo, and lodged a strong protest over Putin’s visit, while Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the Northern Territories are an inherent part of Japanese territory “both historically and under international law.”
According to the Russian government, Putin visited a fish-processing plant, a hospital and a school and met with local residents.
The territorial dispute has meant the two countries have never signed a peace treaty after World War II.
Under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi’s political mentor, Japan pursued closer ties with Russia in the hope of resolving the Northern Territories dispute. Abe met Putin 27 times during his tenure ending in 2020.
In 2018, the two agreed to accelerate peace treaty talks based on a 1956 joint declaration between Japan and the Soviet Union that called for the handover of two smaller islands — Shikotan and the Habomai islet group — after a peace treaty was signed.
The talks were suspended after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Prospects for resuming negotiations remain dim as ties have deteriorated following Japan’s participation in U.S.-led sanctions against Moscow.
Putin reiterated Wednesday that the islands became Russian territory as a result of World War II and criticized Japan for imposing “unprovoked sanctions” over the Ukraine conflict and identifying Russia as a threat.
In 2010, then President Dmitry Medvedev became the first Russian head of state to visit the disputed islands when he went to Kunashiri Island.
