Putin Takes Hard Line on Japan Island Dispute Before Abe's Visit
- Two leaders to discuss 70-year-old disagreement in Moscow
- Russians ratchet up rhetoric as Tokyo seeks breakthrough
Photographer: Pavel Golovkin/AFP via Getty Images
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As Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe heads for talks in Moscow this week in hopes of resolving a 70-year-old dispute over four small islands, President Vladimir Putin is showing him a deal won’t be painless.
While Abe has pushed for progress in a dispute that has prevented the countries from formally ending their World War II hostilities, Russian rhetoric has turned strident ahead of what will be the 25th meeting between the two leaders Tuesday. A top Putin aide vowed not to surrender any territory and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov offered a pointed reminder of Japan’s defeat in 1945.