Russia tackles Japan, US for rebuking Putin’s Iturup trip

Russia has lodged a formal protest with Japan in response to the country's criticism of President Vladimir Putin's visit to Iturup Island. Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin summoned Japanese Ambassador Akira Muto to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to convey Moscow's objection to Japan's anti-Russian stance. Tokyo's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi had previously made statements asserting that all Japanese islands are "inherent territories" following Putin's visit, which took place after he attended the Pacific Fleet drills in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

Russia maintains that the disputed islands were ceded to it at the conclusion of World War II, citing relevant agreements among the Allied Powers and the United Nations Charter. Moscow warns that any attempts to directly or indirectly challenge the "obvious reality" of its sovereignty over the islands are both unacceptable and illegitimate.

The Foreign Ministry also responded to a statement by the US Ambassador to Japan, George Glass, who affirmed Washington's recognition of Japan's sovereignty over the island visited by Putin.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, referred Glass to the international agreements reached during the final stages of World War II, including those made at the Yalta Conference on February 11, 1945. She emphasized that the Soviet Union accepted the United States and Britain's requests to join the fight against Japan, while the US and Britain agreed to the transfer of the Southern Kuril Islands to Russia.

Zakharova accused the American envoy of encouraging "Japanese revanchism and revisionism," asserting that Russia's sovereignty over the islands is beyond question.