Abe declares summit with Putin needed to resolve territorial row
By Associated Press in Tokyo | China Daily | Updated: 2016-01-05 07:59
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin must take place in order for the countries to forge a peace treaty.
Japan and Russia never signed a peace treaty after World War II because of conflicting claims over islands north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, which Japan calls its "Northern Territories".
When asked about Putin in a news conference, Abe said, "We both recognize that 70 years after the war's end, to not have concluded a peace treaty is abnormal."
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