Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he hoped to make progress on a World War II peace treaty with Russia. (File Photo)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he hoped to make progress on a World War II peace treaty with Russia and a long-simmering territorial dispute in talks Friday with President Vladimir Putin.
Abe said Thursday there was great potential for unlocking better economic relations between Japan and Russia if they could find a solution to their historical differences.
He also said it would be difficult to make progress on pressing world issues like Syria, Ukraine and North Korea without constructive Russian involvement.
Abe is due to meet Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics.
"Between Japan and Russia, even after 70 years and more since the end of World War II, no peace treaty has been concluded, which is highly irregular," Abe told reporters in London during his tour of European capitals.
"This is the 13th time that I meet with President Putin in a summit. Without the two leaders talking to each other directly, we can never solve this problem."
Tokyo-Moscow relations have been hamstrung by the row that dates back to the end of World War II when Soviet troops seized the four southernmost islands in the Kuril chain, known as the Northern Territories in Japan.
"We have to resolve the issue of the occupation of the Northern Territories and we must conclude the peace treaty," Abe said.
He said Japan and Russia could "unleash the great potential" in "economic and other fields" only if they solved the "abnormal situation" through a peace treaty.
He said he wanted "frank dialogue" with Putin on these points.
Abe said that on Syria, the Islamic State jihadist group, Ukraine, North Korea and Iran, "we need Russia to be constructively engaged in order to bring solutions".
He also said he hoped to welcome Putin to Japan in the future.
"In order to make this visit significant, we would like to study and search for a most appropriate timing for that to happen," he said.
Abe has been visiting European capitals ahead of the Group of Seven summit he is hosting later this month.
Russia was part of the group under the wider G8 configuration but was evicted following the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
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