Russian President
Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he is ready to resume talks with Japan over a decades-long territorial dispute between the two countries under the 1956 Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration.
Putin told reporters after the annual Q&A session with the Russian people that Tokyo is responsible for the talks having stalled.
After Japan surrendered in 1945, ending World War II, the Soviet Union seized three islands and a group of small islets off Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido. The dispute over their sovereignty has prevented the two countries from ever concluding a peace treaty.
Putin also said Russia’s annexation of Crimea last year will have no effect on Russia’s diplomacy toward Japan, including talks over finally concluding a peace treaty and seeking to resolve the 70-year-old territorial dispute.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea, part of Ukraine, prompted Japan and other countries to impose economic sanctions on the country.
Putin’s comments come after Tokyo and Moscow agreed on Putin’s visit to Japan by the end of this year.
The disputed islands are called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia.
==Kyodo
Category: Daily Witness, National
SponsoredThe end of Democrats?
One of the most widely read financial journalists in America says a scandal in the Obama Administration could actually ruin the entire Democratic party. Learn how here.
