Russia’s Vladimir Putin urges patience in negotiations with Japan over disputed islands, in setback for Shinzo Abe

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged patience in efforts to resolve a territorial dispute with Japan that’s lasted since the second world war – a setback for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who’s made striking a deal a priority.

“It is important to patiently continue the search for a solution,’’ Putin said Saturday after their summit talks in the Kremlin in Moscow.

Abe, who’s waged a charm offensive, said Russia and Japan should forge economic cooperation on the four disputed islands to ensure an agreement “acceptable to both nations”.

Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum earlier, Abe had urged decisive steps to conclude a peace treaty with Russia.

Since coming to power in 2012, Abe has poured time and energy into seeking a breakthrough in the dispute over the islands, called the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan. Russian troops seized the islands at the end of the war and the issue has prevented the two countries from signing a formal peace treaty.

The Japanese leader is eager for a deal partly to counterbalance China’s growing economic and military power in the region, while Russia has shown no sign that it’s in a rush and argues that time is needed to build up their relations.