Kuril islands dispute

While Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vows to end a territorial dispute with Russia over a group of islands in the Pacific as soon as possible, Moscow says Tokyo is ‘distorting’ information on the talks to push its agenda.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have agreed to set up a framework to intensify peace treaty negotiations that were stalled decades ago, after Japan aligned militarily with the US.

Japan said that before any peace deal with Russia is signed, the south Kuril Islands dispute must first be settled. President Vladimir Putin earlier offered to sign the peace treaty “without any preconditions.”

Japanese companies are interested in investing in the disputed Kuril Islands, and a third delegation of Japan-based firms will visit them soon, according Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Tokyo issued a formal diplomatic protest after Russia’s prime minister gave names to five uninhabited islets in the Kuril chain. Japan still claims sovereignty over some of the islands in the chain, which it lost to Russia following World War II.

Only a quarter of Japanese people support their government’s line when it comes to the Kuril Islands dispute, where Tokyo seeks to secure full sovereignty over four Russian Far East islets, a new survey has revealed.