国际英语资讯:Abe, Putin discuss joint economic activities on islands amid territorial dispute_时事

国际英语资讯:Abe, Putin discuss joint economic activities on islands amid territorial dispute

Abe's father Shintaro Abe, former foreign minister, was known for pushing for resolution of the territorial dispute.

However, despite Japan's efforts to lure Russia to cave in with economic cooperation and Japanese investment, it is widely believed that prospects of solving the dispute are slim, as differences are hard to iron out.

"I hope the meeting could be productive for the Russian-Japan relations, but it will be very difficult to solve territorial issues," a Russian national here told Xinhua earlier, saying that it is an issue concerning national interests.

Russia and Japan have not signed a peace treaty formalizing the end of World War Two mainly due to a territory row over four small islands in the Pacific which are called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia.

Japan maintains that the four Pacific islands are its inherent territory and that Russia illegally occupied them after Japan's surrender in WWII, while Russia, for its part, says the seizure was legitimate and urges Japan to recognize the outcome of the war.

Putin told Japanese media on Tuesday that there is no territorial issue between Russia and Japan over the four islands. "We believe we have no territorial problems at all. It is only Japan that believes it has territorial problems with Russia. We are ready to talk about this," Putin said.

Putin, whose visit was initially eyed in 2014 but postponed due to deterioration of bilateral ties following the Ukraine crisis, is the first Russian president to travel to Japan for a bilateral meeting in 11 years.