This was during a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York, said Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, the state news agency Ukrinform.

"Japan and Russia must resolve the territorial dispute and conclude a peace treaty. Only the Japanese-Russian agreement will come into force, the peace and prosperity of East Asia will reach a certain cornerstone, "Abe said..

He noted that he would soon meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss controversial issues.

"I will do everything possible to remove the long-standing post-war structures from northeast Asia," concluded Abe.

As is known, the four islands of the Kuril chain - Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir and Habomai - cause territorial disagreements between the two countries since the end of World War II, when the Soviet Union appropriated territories belonging to Japan.

The problem of the status of these islands remains the main obstacle to the conclusion of a peace treaty. Japan claims its rights to them. Russia insists on its protectorate over the islands.

According to Japanese scientists, almost 60% of the population of the occupied USSR, and then Russia, of the Japanese islands of the Kuril chain can be made up of Ukrainians who were forcibly relocated here by the Soviet authorities after the seizure of the islands of 1945.