Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has criticised Vladimir Putin's first-ever visit to the disputed Kuril islands on Thursday as "absolutely unacceptable".
Russian state media reported that Putin visited Iturup, known in Japan as Etorofu, one of four islands in the Kuril chain that are claimed by Russia and Japan, BBC reported.
Putin's trip "has worsened Japanese sentiment towards Russia," Takaichi told reporters, maintaining the island chain was "a unique territory of [Japan] historically and under international law".
