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Abe says Putin’s visit to Japan ushered in new era in bilateral relations

The Japanese prime minister said Moscow and Tokyo have been able to achieve more in bilateral relations over the past year than within the past 70 years

VLADIVOSTOK, September 7. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Japan last December ushered in a new era in relations between the two countries, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum on Thursday.

"President Putin visited my hometown of Nagato last December. President Putin and I spoke with each other for five hours. We firmly decided to look ahead instead of looking back," he noted.

According to the Japanese prime minister, "the history of the Japanese-Russian relations entered a new era at that time."

Abe recalled that the Japanese team got the right to take part in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. "A lot of young people will come to Russia from Japan. At the stadium, young people from our two countries will support each other’s teams and rejoice in each other’s victories," he added.

Abe said Moscow and Tokyo have been able to achieve more in bilateral relations over the past year than within the past 70 years.

"Russia and Japan have made considerable progress over the past year, which we had been unable to make over the past 70 years," he said.

Abe also said that Russia and Japan should put an end to the abnormal situation in bilateral relations by signing a peace treaty.

"We should put an end to the abnormal situation when we still don’t have a peace treaty," he said adding that it should be done in order to make full use of the potential that bilateral relations had.