TOKYO (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed the territorial dispute at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on September 2-3.
"The government, based on the discussion held by the leaders, intends to continue the negotiations to resolve the ownership issue over four islands and sign the peace treaty," Suga told journalists.
Japan and Russia have never signed a permanent peace treaty after World War II due to a disagreement over four islands, which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan the Northern Territories. The disputed islands, located in the Sea of Okhotsk, were claimed by Soviet forces at the end of the war.
