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Japan aims to finish peace treaty with Russia by year-end

TOKYO: Japan is still aiming to complete a peace treaty with Russia by the end of the year, despite doubts among Japanese that the two sides can come to an agreement soon, a government spokesman said on Friday.

Moscow and Tokyo never signed a treaty ending World War II because of a territorial dispute over Russian-held islands north of Japan. The Japanese government wants to resolve the dispute this year.

On Thursday, Minoru Tanba, Japan's ambassador to Russia, was quoted by Kyodo News agency as saying it was inevitable for the negotiations to be carried into next year.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki said on Friday that Tokyo was pushing ahead with its plans, despite such doubts.

"The government is doing all it can" to seal a peace treaty with Russia by year's end, he told reporters.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry refused to confirm Tanba's comments.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said in Japan last week that the two sides agreed to continue talks for a peace accord, but he didn't comment on the prospects of signing a treaty by the end of the year.

The major stumbling block to the treaty has been the decades-long dispute over the four Kuril Islands that lie to the north of Japan. The islands were seized by Moscow in the closing of World War II, but Tokyo claims the islands as Japanese territory. APP