AFP, Tokyo :Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday pledged to resolve a row with Russia over an island chain claimed by both nations and sign a bilateral peace treaty delayed since WWII.Relations between Moscow and Tokyo have been strained for decades over of the status of four Pacific islands near Japan’s north coast, known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.”As I have agreed with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, it is abnormal that Japan and Russia have not concluded a peace treaty,” Abe told an annual gathering in Tokyo to demand the return of the territories.”I am determined to continue working tenaciously on this issue… in full accordance with the government’s fundamental policy of resolving the issue… and concluding a peace treaty with Russia.”Soviet troops seized the islands just after Japan surrendered in World War II and Tokyo says the islands are now illegally occupied by Russia.The seven-decade dispute over their ownership has kept Moscow and Tokyo from signing a post-war peace treaty. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told the same rally issue is the biggest stumbling block hindering relations between the two nations.Japan holds a demonstration on February 7 every year to mark a 1855 bilateral treaty that set its border with RussiaWashington report adds: The United States would support Japan playing a bigger role in global security, a US official said on Friday, amid intense debate in the Asian nation following the murder of two Japanese hostages by Islamic State jihadists.In a question and answer session on Twitter, deputy US Secretary of State Tony Blinken was asked if he would back Japan altering its pacifist constitution to enable it to act beyond self-defence.”Decision for #Japan but support increased Japanese engagement on world stage, contributions to global security,” said Blinken who will visit Japan next week during a swing through Asia.The State Department said Blinken will discuss a broad range of bilateral, regional and global issues when he meets Japanese government officials in Tokyo from February 12-14 after earlier stops in South Korea and China. The visit comes as Japan reels from the murder of two of its hostages, Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto, by the Islamic State group.The two men were killed after Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged $200 million in aid for refugees fleeing IS-controlled areas in Syria and Iraq during a tour of the Middle East in January.The deaths have triggered debate inside Japan about the nation’s diplomatic capability and the question of using the Japanese military to protect citizens overseas.Abe has been pushing to alter Japan’s pacifist constitution to broaden the capability of its military, which since World War II has been restricted to a self-defense role.
