TOKYO - Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Etorofu Island on Thursday, the country's Tass news agency reported, in his first trip to the Russian-held, Japanese-claimed island chain off Hokkaido.
Japan maintains that the Northern Territories, consisting of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group, were illegally seized by the Soviet Union soon after Japan's surrender in World War II on Aug. 15, 1945. Russia, which calls them the Southern Kurils, argues the seizure was legitimate.
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