Russia seeking acceptable solution on WW2 peace treaty with Japan:diplomat
PLA Daily 2004-02-12
MOSCOW, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- A senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday that his country would continue searching for an "acceptable" solution to the still outstanding World War II peace treaty with Japan.
"We intend to continue the search for an acceptable solution tothe difficult and sensitive problem on concluding a peace treaty,"Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said in an interview with Itar-Tass news agency.
"The potential for a possible solution cannot lie in devising new schemes -- we have tried a lot of variants over a decade of talks -- but rather in a new atmosphere of relations when old stereotypes and prejudices collapse," Losyukov said.
He hailed the progress reached during the latest high-level talks between the two countries and expressed the hope that "the broad development of Russian-Japanese relations will gradually create favorable conditions for concluding a peace treaty."
Russia and Japan have so far failed to sign a peace treaty thatwould formally end World War II hostilities between them due to a long-standing dispute over the ownership of four Russia-held tiny islands in the southern Kuril chain.
The islands were seized by the former Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II.
Japan claims the islands and insists on their return, while Russia says the islands were possessed legitimately.
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