Japanese-Russian Peace Treaty Should Not Be Left for Next Generation - Abe

TOKYO (Sputnik) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated on Sunday his commitment to continue negotiations with Russia on the peace treaty, stressing that this issue should not be left for future generations to solve.

"We should not hand over to future generations the problem that has not been solved during over 70 years. I am determined to solve this problem together with [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin and to continue active negotiations on the peace treaty," Abe said at a congress of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, as broadcast on the YouTube channel of the Japanese media outlet The Page.

READ MORE: Russia, Japan Confirm Interest in Signing Peace Treaty — Putin

Russia and Japan engaged last month in full-scale talks aimed at eventually signing a permanent peace treaty after the end of World War II, which the two countries have not been able to reach so far, primarily due to the dispute over the Kuril islands, claimed by both countries.

The next round of negotiations at the level of the Russian and Japanese foreign ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Taro Kono, may be held in the German city of Munich in mid-February.