"Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is thinking about this very seriously," Komura, who is Japan`s Former Foreign Minister, stressed during the meeting in Tokyo, saying that Japan "would like to conclude a peace agreement solving the territorial issue. And for that we would like President Putin to come to Japan."
According to the Russian President, Moscow has not changed its stance on the disputed Kuril Islands, but is ready to continue dialogue with Japan on the issue.
The disputed islands, called the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan, have been administered by Russia since the end of World War II, but the Japanese government lays claim to them. The status of the Southern Kuril Islands was set in the
1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty that handed over control of the islands to Russia.
In February, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed, to the Russian Foreign Ministry`s concern, to reclaim the islands.
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