New Japanese PM set to improve relations with Russia
Newly elected Japanese Prime-Minister Naoto Kan pledged on Friday to improve economic and political ties with Russia as well as settle territorial disputes.
"I will actively work to solve the main problem [in Russian-Japanese relations] - the territorial dispute and signing of a peace agreement [with Russia]," Kan said during his keynote speech to the Japanese parliament.
Tokyo`s claims over the four islands off northeast Japan, which were annexed by the Soviet Union after World War II, have so far prevented Russia and Japan from signing a formal peace treaty to end World War II hostilities.
Kan`s comments are taken almost directly form the keynote speech of his predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned earlier in June, which shows his commitment to continue the foreign policy agenda of the previous government.
Hatoyama stepped down in early June following a series of scandals involving the misappropriation of political funds by high-ranking Japanese officials.
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