"The success of the talks will depend on whether we will be able to conduct them in a quiet environment. Moving the dialogue [with Russia] forward is a top priority for the government," Abe said at a parliament session when confronted with a lawmaker's criticism over the prime minister's allegedly weakening stance on the territorial dispute between the two countries.
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The prime minister reiterated that Japan's position on its claim to the Kuril Islands had not changed, but refrained from using Japan's usual term for the islets — territories "illegally occupied by Russia" — when talking about them. According to Abe's critics, this deviation from traditional rhetoric might reflect Japan's new position.
Russian-Japanese relations have long been complicated by the fact that the two nations never signed a permanent peace treaty after the end of World War II. The deal was never reached because of a disagreement over a group of four islands — Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai — that Russia has sovereignty over but that are also claimed by Japan. They are collectively referred to as the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan.
