MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow has not changed its stance on the Kuril Islands, but is ready to continue dialogue with Japan on the issue.
"Our approach to the peace treaty with Japan and the territorial issue has not changed following Crimea reunification," Putin told reporters after his annual live Q&A session.
"We are ready for a dialogue with Japan on this issue, but only in line with documents adopted in 1956 on the basis of the outcome of the Second World War, which have been ratified by the Japanese parliament."
Russia and Japan are yet to resolve a Tokyo-initiated dispute over four islands in the Sea of Okhotsk, called the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan.
The islands have been administered by Russia since the end of World War II, but the Japanese government lays claim to them. The status of the Southern Kuril Islands was stipulated by the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty that handed over control of the islands to Russia.
In February, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed, to the Russian Foreign Ministry's concern, to reclaim the islands.
