Putin visits disputed Kuril Island, drawing sharp Japan protest

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Iturup, one of the Kuril Islands disputed with Japan, prompting a sharp protest from Tokyo. During the trip, Putin inspected a fish-processing plant, a hospital and a school, and met Sakhalin Governor Valery Limarenko. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the visit was wholly unacceptable, while Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Japan lodged a strong protest because the Northern Territories are regarded as Japanese territory. The four islands at the southern tip of the Kuril chain were seized by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II. The dispute has long been a major obstacle to a formal peace treaty between Moscow and Tokyo.