Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to the Kuril Islands on August 13, 2026, marking his first visit to the Pacific archipelago, Russian state media reported. Japan's government reacted with anger, and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the trip "Absolutely unacceptable."
The Kuril Islands sit in the Pacific and have been at the center of a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia for decades. The Soviet Union seized the islands late in the Second World War, according to The Guardian. Japan refers to the four southernmost islands in the chain as the Northern Territories and, as NPR reported, claims them alongside Russia. Takaichi stated that under international law, those islands belong to Japan.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi summoned Russian Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev to register a formal protest over the visit, The Guardian reported.