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Putin visits disputed Kuril Islands amid Russia-China push on Japan

Analysts cited by SCMP Economy said the visit fits a coordinated effort to pressure Japan, spanning Western sanctions and Taiwan-related friction.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Trade & Tariffs

Vladimir Putin made his first visit as president to the disputed southern Kuril Islands, paying a symbolic trip to the volcanic chain north of Hokkaido that Japan calls the Northern Territories, SCMP Economy reported. The visit came on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s anniversary of Japan’s WWII surrender, and it followed Putin’s personal observation of the final phase of major Pacific Fleet exercises off Sakhalin north of the Kurils.

According to analysts cited by SCMP Economy, the trip points to a broader joint effort by Moscow and Beijing aimed at pressuring Japan across multiple friction points. The analysts said the coordinated push is intended to target Tokyo not only on the Kuril dispute, but also over Western sanctions on Russia and Japan’s stance on Taiwan.

SCMP Economy noted the Kremlin visit timing also places it within a wider diplomatic and military backdrop, with the Kurils trip occurring shortly after the Pacific Fleet drills. The outlet said the most recent earlier visit by a Russian leader to the disputed islands dates to 2010, when Dmitry Medvedev became the first Russian president to do so.

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