MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a two-day visit to Japan on December 15-16, vising Abe's ancestral city of Yamaguchi and later overseeing the signing of a number of cooperation documents in Tokyo. The two leaders also said they reached a level of understanding with regards to the signing of the peace treaty.
"I am deeply touched by the fact that we were able to make an important step toward a peace treaty," Abe said, as quoted by the Kyodo news agency.
During December's summit, Russia and Japan agreed to step up economic cooperation on Russia's Kuril Islands which have been a sticking point in peace treaty talks. Japan claims the Russian territory, gained after World War II, to be its own and has made its return a condition for signing the treaty.
Moscow and Tokyo never signed a permanent peace treaty after the World War II due to Tokyo's stance on the the Southern Kurils, encompassing Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai.
