OREANDA-NEWS  The Japanese Foreign Ministry commented on the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the island of Iturup. The agency's statement was published on the social network X.

In the publication, the agency protested Putin's visit to Iturup and recalled that the island, along with three other islands in the southern Kuril Islands, belongs to Japan. They became part of the USSR following the Second World War, and from Moscow's perspective, Russia's sovereignty over them is indisputable.

"Today I learned from reports that Russian President Putin has visited Iturup. The four northern islands, including Iturup, are historically and from the point of view of international law an integral territory of our country, Japan strongly protests this visit," said Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

Earlier it became known that Putin visited the Kuril Islands for the first time. He met with the Governor of the Sakhalin region, Valery Limarenko.