Russian president visits Kuril island of Iturup: Tass

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Iturup, one of the islands in the disputed Kuril Islands chain claimed by both Russia and Japan, during a trip to Russia's Sakhalin Region, the Russian state news agency Tass reported Thursday.

As shown in footage released by the Kremlin press service, Putin visited the Yasny fish processing complex, Tass said.

Putin said Wednesday that Japan continued to maintain territorial claims against his country over the Kuril Islands and that Moscow had constructive relations with Tokyo on the issue during former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration.

"Now we see, unfortunately, changes in positions which, I emphasize, were not provoked in any way on our part," he added.

Japan and Russia remain locked in a territorial dispute over the four southernmost Kuril islands, namely Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islets, which are controlled by Russia, but Japan identifies them as the Northern Territories.

The dispute has prevented the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries since World War II, and tensions have deepened in recent years amid Japan's sanctions against Russia over the Russia-Ukraine war.