Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday that he wanted to solve the dispute with Russia around the Southern Kuril Islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan, boost friendly relations between Moscow and Tokyo as well as sign a peace treaty between the two nations, APA reports citing Sputnik.
“I would like to promote the joint work to find a mutually acceptable solution as well as move forward the talks step by step. I will firmly seek to solve the territorial dispute and sign the peace treaty. First of all, it is important to boost friendly and trust-based relations between the peoples of Japan and Russia so that the four islands will become the islands of friendship”, Abe said at the annual government-organized meeting devoted to the Northern Territories Day.