Abe Says Territorial Talks with Russia Not Easy Task

Lima, Nov. 19 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Saturday that resolving a territorial dispute and concluding a peace treaty with Russia is "not an easy task." Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Lima, Abe said he hopes to "make progress step by step." It is significant for the two leaders to have thoroughly discussed the peace treaty, Abe said. The dispute over four northwestern Pacific islands seized by Soviet troops from Japan in the closing days of World War II prevents Tokyo and Moscow from signing a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities. END