Russia, Japan to meet on WWII dispute

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are expected to hold talks in Moscow on Jan 22. The conclusion of a peace treaty between the two countries is expected to be discussed, the Kremlin's press service said.

Putin and Abe made a decision to step up negotiations on a peace treaty in Singapore last November. The two sides agreed to use as the treaty's basis the Soviet-Japan Joint Declaration of Oct 19, 1956, which terminated the state of war between the two countries and restored diplomatic and consular relations.

Russia and Japan have not signed a post-World War II peace treaty due to their rival claims to a group of Pacific islands called the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.

The disputed Kuril Islands, one of which lies less than 10 kilometers from Japan's Hokkaido Island, consist of Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and Habomai. Three are inhabited, while Habomai is a group of islets with only the presence of a border patrol from Russia.