Premier Renews Call for Russia to Return Islands
From Times Wire Reports
Japan’s prime minister vowed to push Russia to return four islands and end a decades-long dispute preventing a peace treaty formally ending World War II.
“We must make it clear that the four islands belong to us,” Junichiro Koizumi told an annual government-organized rally. “But we shouldn’t be impatient. We should continue our negotiations patiently.”
The islands, which Moscow calls the Kurils and Tokyo identifies as the Northern Territories, were seized by the Soviet Union at the end of the war. Japan claims the move was illegal.
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