Japan considering response to Putin's visit to disputed island: Report

Japan is considering "some measure" against Russia after President Vladimir Putin's visit to the disputed Iturup Island, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Friday, according to Kyodo News.

On Thursday, Putin visited the island, which Japan calls Etorofu, marking his first trip to the Russian-controlled but Japanese-claimed island chain off Hokkaido. Russia calls the islands the Southern Kuril Islands.

"We are considering what step to take going forward," the official told reporters. An additional sanction is believed to be under consideration, according to Kyodo.

Tokyo maintains that the Northern Territories, consisting of Iturup, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group, were "illegally" seized by the now-defunct Soviet Union soon after Japan's surrender in World War II on Aug. 15, 1945.

Russia argues the seizure was legitimate.

The dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty since World War II, while tensions have deepened in recent years amid Japan's sanctions against Moscow over the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Japanese government summoned Nikolay Nozdrev, Russia's ambassador in Tokyo, to lodge a "strong protest" over Putin's visit, while Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the islands are an inherent part of Japanese territory "both historically and under international law."

China's reaction

China on Friday said the outcomes of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War must be “earnestly respected and upheld” when asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Iturup Island, one of the four islands Japan calls the Northern Territories.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun urged Japan to abide by the postwar international order established under the Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Proclamation and other relevant international legal instruments.