Russia’s Putin lands on disputed Kurils, Japan calls visit ‘absolutely unacceptable’

Key Topics in this News Article:
News Snapshot:

MOSCOW, Aug 13 — President Vladimir Putin visited Russia’s far-eastern Kuril islands for the first time on Thursday, prompting protests by Japan which also claims the territory. Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by the contested islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized by the Soviet Union in 1945. The Kremlin posted a video of Putin on one of the Kurils’ four main islands, with Russian media saying he visited a fish-processing plant and was given caviar. It was the first visit by a Russian president since Dmitry Medvedev in 2010. “The Northern Territories are an inherent…

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Newsletter to Your Inbox

    China intelligence delivered each week!

  • This field is hidden when viewing the form