Islands still a thorn as Putin, Abe end meet

Tokyo: Russia and Japan on Friday signalled there was no resolution after a two-day summit to a decades-long territorial dispute that has blocked them from achieving a peace treaty to formally end World War II hostilities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe held talks in Abe’s ancestral hometown and in Tokyo, to secure a deal.

“It would be naive to think we can solve this problem in an hour,” Mr Putin said at a press conference with Mr Abe. “There must be an end to this historic ping-pong... The fundamental interests of Russia and Japan require a long-term deal.”

Mr Abe concurred, but said the effort would continue despite the “difficult path ahead”.

“Concluding a peace treaty that has not been concluded in more than 70 years is not easy,” Mr Abe said.

“But we cannot resolve this issue only by asserting the correctness of each other’s claims.”