Russia protests to Japanese ambassador over Takaichi's 'anti-Russian' remarks

Russia summoned Japan’s ambassador after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi criticized Vladimir Putin’s visit to the disputed islands, calling her remarks “anti-Russian.”
The row centers on the four islands (Russia’s Southern Kurils, Japan’s Northern Territories) seized after World War II — a territorial dispute that has blocked a formal peace treaty for decades.
Ties are already tense because of Japan’s sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine, and Moscow warned it could take “appropriate countermeasures.”