Japan-Russia Peace Treaty To Create Basis For Prosperity In Northeastern Asia - Abe

The potential conclusion of a peace treaty between Japan and Russia will create a foundation for peace and prosperity in Northeastern Asia after seven decades without an official truce, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said addressing the UN General Assembly.

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2018) The potential conclusion of a peace treaty between Japan and Russia will create a foundation for peace and prosperity in Northeastern Asia after seven decades without an official truce, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said addressing the UN General Assembly.

Earlier in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that a peace treaty between two countries without any preconditions should be signed before the end of the year. However, Tokyo later said that it would continue to insist that a treaty could only be concluded after the settlement of the South Kuril Islands territorial dispute.

"Now Russian President Putin and I are trying to begin settling the issue, one which hasn't been able to be resolved in 70 years. In early September, I met with the president [Putin] in Vladivostok. That was our 22nd meeting.

We will meet again in the near future. It is necessary to resolve the territorial issue between our countries and sign the peace treaty between Russia and Japan. The peace treaty between Japan and Russia will create one more cornerstone of peace and prosperity in northeastern Asia," Abe said.

The fact that Japan and Russia have never signed a permanent peace treaty after the end of World War II has long been a stumbling block in Russian-Japanese relations. The main issue standing in the way of a treaty is an agreement concerning a group of four islands that both countries claim � Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai, collectively referred to as the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan.

Tokyo and Moscow have been engaged in consultations regarding carrying out joint economic activities on the disputed islands.