UN, September 26. /TASS/. The signing of a peace treaty between Russia and Japan will contribute to laying a solid basis for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the UN General Assembly in New York.
"We need to settle the territorial issue and sign a peace treaty. When a peace treaty between Russia and Japan becomes a reality, a more solid foundation is created for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia," he said.
The Japanese premier described the situation, in which the two major powers have been unable to sign a peace treaty for more than 70 years, as abnormal.
"We are working jointly with Russian President Vladimir Putin to overcome the deadlock in which our countries are now," Abe said, adding that he expected to have a bilateral meeting with the Russian leader soon.
Since the mid-20th century, Russia and Japan have been holding consultations in order to clinch a peace treaty as a follow-up to World War II. The Kuril Islands issue remains the sticking point since after WWII the islands were handed over to the Soviet Union while Japan laid claims to the four southern islands. In 1956, the two countries signed a common declaration on ending the state of war and restoring diplomatic and all other relations, however, a peace treaty has still not been reached. Moscow has stated many times that Russia’s sovereignty over the islands cannot be called into question.
Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested at the Eastern Economic Forum’s plenary session on September 12 that Moscow and Tokyo should make a peace treaty without any preconditions before the end of the year. When asked to comment on the Russian president’s initiative, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official told TASS that Tokyo planned to hold peace treaty talks with Moscow once the territorial dispute was resolved and that position remained unchanged.