JAPAN'S PRIME MINISTER SANAE TAKAICHI SAYS THAT FOLLOWING RUSSIA'S INVASION OF UKRAINE, JAPAN-RUSSIA RELATIONS ARE IN A DIFFICULT SITUATION, AND THAT WHILE JAPAN HAS MADE EVERY POSSIBLE EFFORT, THE VISIT HAS FURTHER HARDENED ANTI-RUSSIAN SENTIMENT WITHIN JAPAN AND MADE THE RESTORATION OF RELATIONS OVER THE MEDIUM TO LONG TERM MORE DIFFICULT, ADDING THAT JAPAN WANTS RUSSIA TO SERIOUSLY RECOGNISE THE GRAVITY OF THIS.

JAPAN'S PRIME MINISTER SANAE TAKAICHI HAS BLASTED RUSSIA OVER PUTIN'S VISIT TO ETOROFU, SAYING JAPAN STRONGLY PROTESTS THE ACTION AS THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES ARE INHERENTLY PART OF JAPAN'S TERRITORY BOTH HISTORICALLY AND UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW, AND THAT THE VISIT BY THE INCUMBENT RUSSIAN PRESIDENT IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH JAPAN'S CONSISTENT POSITION, HURTS THE FEELINGS OF THE JAPANESE PEOPLE AND IS 'ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE'.