Russia rejects Japan's sovereignty claims over Southern Kuril Islands

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that the Southern Kuril Islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan, "have been, are and will remain Russian territory." He further said that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's rhetoric claiming the islands are "inherently Japanese" would change nothing.

Earlier on Thursday, Takaichi "strongly protested" Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to a disputed island.

Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo, Takaichi said Japan could "absolutely not accept" this visit, insisting that the Northern Territories are Japan's "inherent territories." Medvedev said Takaichi "can prattle on as much as she likes about the Southern Kuril Islands being inherently Japanese." He said anyone who fails to recognize the Southern Kuril Islands as Russian territory will face horrific consequences for their delusions.

Moscow and Tokyo have failed to sign a postwar peace treaty due to competing territorial claims over the four Pacific islands.

After Japan joined Western-led sanctions against Russia, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced in 2022 that Moscow would halt peace-treaty negotiations with Japan and terminate visa-free travel for Japanese citizens to the disputed islands.

TASS news agency reported that Putin has visited the Far Eastern Kuril Island of Iturup, which Japan calls Etorofu, after attending the final stage of the Pacific Fleet drills in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.