Putin's Iturup trip draws a stinging rebuke from Kyiv
Iturup lies at the heart of a decades-long territorial standoff between Japan and Russia, with Tokyo viewing it as part of its Northern Territories and Russia occupying it. The island chain is also known in Russia as the Southern Kurils, a naming difference that captures the competing claims. It was to this disputed territory that Vladimir Putin made his first-ever visit on 13 August 2023.
Ukraine's foreign ministry swiftly rejected the visit as a deliberate provocation, urging international partners to intensify pressure on Russia. In October 2022, Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed a resolution on the Northern Territories, backing Japan's sovereignty, and Ukraine's president followed up with Decree No. 692/2022 “On the Issue of Japan's Northern Territories.”
Kyiv's message to Moscow
The foreign ministry expressed full solidarity with Japan and praised its stance in favor of Ukraine's territorial integrity. Its statement said:
“Russia understands only the language of force.” — Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
It went on: “No occupation should become a new normality. Occupation does not create legal rights, and the passage of time does not make the illegal legal.”
The MFA called on partners to take concrete action, including stronger political, diplomatic, and economic pressure on Russia and further sanctions. The goal, it said, is to stop Moscow from legitimizing its presence on temporarily occupied territories.
Putin's appearance on Iturup underscores how unresolved the Russia-Japan conflict over these islands remains. Ukraine's reaction reinforces its support for Japan and its insistence on international law, against a backdrop of wider regional dynamics. How the international community now responds to Russia's move will shape the next chapter in this complex geopolitical confrontation.
As the situation escalates, Zelenskyy emphasizes that Putin will ultimately have to end the conflict. This highlights the broader implications of Russia's actions in occupied territories, revealing the interconnectedness of regional tensions and the necessity for unified international responses to aggression.