普京年提議年底前與日本簽署和平條約
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that he wanted to sign a formal peace treaty with Japan ending hostilities from World war II by the end of the year without conditions.
Seventy-three years after the war concluded, the two countries remain technically at war because of a territorial dispute over four Pacific islands.
"Let us sign the peace treaty ... and later we will continue to talk about all of our disagreements as friends on the basis of a peace treaty," Putin said at an economic conference in Vladivostok.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared open to a treaty, saying it was "not normal" that one still hasn't been signed after seven decades.
"Japan and Russia — both President Putin and myself — share the same position and determination to solve our territorial disputes," he said.
But a Japanese government spokesman said Japan's position had not changed and that the issue of sovereignty over the islands needed to be resolved before signing any treaties with Russia.
The Soviet Union seized the four islands north of Hokkaido and east of Sakhalin in the closing days of World War II.
Russia calls the islands the Kurils, while Japan calls them the Northern Territories. Russia has sovereignty over the islands. Japan wants them back.
The islands are rich in minerals and rare metals, and its waters are excellent fishing grounds.
Putin and Abe have met more than 20 times to discuss the dispute.
Abe has proposed making the islands a joint economic zone, which could lead to a settlement.俄羅斯總統普京週三表示，他希望在年底前與日本簽署正式的和平條約，無條件地結束第二次世界大戰延伸下來的敵對狀態。
二戰結束73年後，這兩個國家由於在北方四島的歸屬問題上仍有分歧而在理論上仍然處於戰爭狀態。
普京在符拉迪沃斯託克舉行的經濟會議上說：“讓我們簽署和平條約......之後在和平條約的基礎上我們將作爲朋友繼續談論所有分歧。”
日本首相安倍晉三似乎對和平條約的想法持開放態度，稱七十年後仍未簽署條約並非“正常”。
他說：“日本和俄羅斯 - 無論是普京總統還是我本人 - 都有同樣的立場和決心來解決我們的領土爭端。”
但日本政府發言人表示，日本的立場沒有改變，在與俄羅斯簽署任何條約之前，需要解決這些島嶼的主權歸屬問題。
前蘇聯在第二次世界大戰的最後幾天佔領了北海道以北和薩哈林島以東的四個島嶼。
俄羅斯稱這些島嶼爲南千島羣島，而日本稱其爲北方四島。俄羅斯對這些島嶼擁有主權。但日本希望這些島嶼迴歸。
這些島嶼富含礦物質和稀有金屬，附近水域是絕佳的漁場。
普京和安倍已經就這一領土爭議舉行了20多次會談。
安倍提議將這些島嶼列爲一個聯合經濟區，這可能會帶來兩國達成和解。
