Japan, Russia far from resolved on territorial dispute

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said on Saturday that a heated, decades-long territorial dispute with Russia was far from solved even as they agreed to boost security and economic cooperation.

Mr Gemba, standing next to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, told a news briefing in Tokyo that the two sides 'remain far apart' on claims to the Kuril islands off the coast of northern Japan's Hokkaido island.

'I said (to Mr Lavrov) that it is now more necessary than ever that the two countries solve the territorial issue and sign a peace treaty so as to build a true friendly relationship,' Mr Gemba said.

The two nations have never formally signed a peace treaty as Japan maintains its claim over the islands, which Russia has controlled since Japan's surrender at the end of World War II.