Putin, Abe hold hot spring meet on WWII island row

NAGATO, Japan: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bunkered down for talks on Thursday to try and resolve a territorial dispute that has prevented their countries from formally ending World War II hostilities.

Abe is hosting Putin at a hot spring summit in his ancestral city of Nagato in the hopes of achieving a breakthrough over the territory off Japan’s northern coast seized by Soviet troops in 1945.

The four islands are known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, and the dispute has been a thorn in relations for more than seven decades.

Abe would like to seal a deal as soon as possible because the islands’ ageing Japanese former residents are dwindling in number.

Despite months of preparation, however, the outlook is not good, with both sides recently damping down expectations of major progress.

The two leaders shook hands before sitting down for their first meeting during the two days of talks, with Abe welcoming Putin to his hometown.

"I think the summit today and tomorrow will bring a big contribution to the development of ties," Putin said.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that Putin and Abe had dismissed aides and went into "one-on-one discussions" to try and make progress on the issue of negotiating a peace treaty.

Japanese media said that the two leaders were meeting with only interpreters present.

Lavrov also said that Putin suggested the two countries re-establish meetings between their defence ministers.

"The prime minister responded positively" to the suggestion, Lavrov said.  Putin, a judoist who is making his first visit to Japan as president in 11 years, has said he wants to end the "anachronism" of the two countries not having a World War II peace treaty.  "But how to do this is a difficult question," he told Japanese media before his arrival.