Shinzo Abe and Vladimir Putin
© Sergey Mamontov / SputnikShinzo Abe and Vladimir Putin. September 10, 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Japanese leader Shinzo Abe a peace treaty between the two countries without preconditions by the end of the year.

The two leaders met on Wednesday at the Eastern Economic Forum taking place in Vladivostok in Russia's Far East.

"Let's conclude a peace treaty - not now but by the end of the year, without any preconditions," the Russian president said.

Putin's remarks were supported by the Japanese prime minister. "Let us move forward, asking ourselves the questions like, 'if we won't do it [conclude the peace treaty] now, then when? If we don't do it now, then who will do it if not us?'" Abe said.

Shinzo Abe also said the living generation has the responsibility to "completely remove the post-war scenery" from the region.

Russia and Japan did not sign a formal peace treaty after the end of WWII in 1945, and the absence of an agreement has strained relations ever since.

The main obstacle to signing a peace treaty is Tokyo's long-standing claims to the southern part of the Russian Kuril Islands, collectively known in Japan as the 'Northern Territories'.

Southern Kurils
© Andrej Shapran / SputnikFILE PHOTO Southern Kurils