Russia 'is not threatening Japan... On the contrary, Japan has territorial claims against our country', Putin said
Vladimir Putin visited Russia’s far-eastern Kuril islands on Thursday for the first time, prompting a “strong” protest by Japan, which also claims the territory.
Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by tensions over 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.
Putin travelled to the Kurils after visiting the nearby Russian island of Sakhalin on Wednesday, where Russia’s navy was conducting drills. In Sakhalin, Putin held a meeting “on ensuring the security of Russia’s eastern borders,” RIA Novosti said.
