Over 88% of Japanese Sceptical That Kurils Dispute to be Solved Under Abe - Poll

TOKYO (Sputnik) - More than 88 percent of Japanese citizens do not believe that Tokyo and Moscow will be able to put an end to their decades-long territorial dispute over the Kuril islands until the end of the term of incumbent Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a poll carried out by the Kyodo News broadcaster revealed on Sunday.

According to the results of the poll, a total of 88.2 percent of the respondents said that the territorial issue would not be resolved while Abe is still prime minister, and only 7.3 percent of those polled believe that the head of the Japanese government will be able to settle the dispute until the end of his term.

READ MORE: Putin-Abe Kurils Talks Seem to be Stalled, But Peace Treaty Possible — Scholars

Abe's current term in office is set to expire in 2021.

In January, Russia and Japan engaged in full-scale talks aimed at 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 Germany's Munich in mid-February.