Japan and Russia should be less sentimental in resolving their differences over a territorial row and concluding a World War II peace treaty, French President Jacques Chirac said April 29.
"I am not in a position to interfere with the bilateral relationship between Japan and Russia, but the two countries may find a solution if they become less sentimental on their differences," he told a news conference at the Japan National Press Club.
Tokyo and Russia have not yet signed a peace treaty due to the territorial dispute over Etorofu, Kunashiri and Shikotan and the Habomai group of islets, which were seized from Japan by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.