Russia and Japan are struggling to make progress on resolving a dispute over four islands off Hokkaido that dates from the end of World War II amid opposition in both countries to territorial concessions.
Negotiations are deadlocked, according to three officials from Japan and Russia, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is confidential. The disagreement over the territories, which Russia controls, has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty that could help transform relations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is sticking to demands that Tokyo first acknowledge Moscow's sovereignty over the islands, which were seized by the Soviet Red Army in 1945. He and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed in November to negotiate on the basis of a 1956 declaration under which the Soviet Union would return two islands following a peace accord, though they failed to make a breakthrough at a meeting in Moscow last month.