Putin Urges Japan to Sign Peace Treaty by Year-End without Condition

September 13, 2018

Vladivostok, Russia- Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to Japan on Wednesday that the two countries conclude a World War II peace treaty by year-end, by setting no preconditions at all.

Making the surprise remark at a meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok, Putin effectively called for shelving the two countries' longstanding territorial dispute over four Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands.

It is the first time for Putin to propose a deadline for the conclusion of such a treaty between Russia and Japan.

Putin's remark contradicts Japan's position of seeking to conclude a peace treaty after resolving the ownership row over the islands.

The islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan, were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of the war. The island ownership row has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from concluding a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities.

At the forum meeting, also joined by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, among others, Putin said that Russia, as a friend of Japan, will be ready to continue discussions with the Asian country on all pending bilateral issues based on the peace treaty after it is concluded.

He said he believes doing this will make it easier to settle all of the problems that remain resolved some 70 years after the end of the war.

Referring to the 1956 Japan-Soviet joint declaration stipulating that Shikotan and the Habomais, two of the four islands, be handed over to Japan after the conclusion of a peace treaty, Putin said that Japan had refused to act in accordance with the declaration.

As a result, negotiations between Moscow and Tokyo have been continuing for some 70 years after the war, he added.

There was a territorial issue also between Russia and China, but it was fully resolved after the two sides found common ground, Putin said.

While noting that Russia is the largest country in the world by area, Putin said that the territorial issue with Japan is of ethical and political nature, and is a very sensitive matter for the people of the two countries.

A careful approach is necessary for the resolution of the problem, Putin added.

Russia claims that the islands became its territory as a result of World War II. Jiji Press