Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that he wanted to sign a formal peace treaty with Japan ending hostilities from World War II by the end of the year without conditions.
Seventy-three years after the war concluded, the two countries remain technically at war because of a territorial dispute over four Pacific islands.
"Let us sign the peace treaty ... and later we will continue to talk about all of our disagreements as friends on the basis of a peace treaty," Putin said at an economic conference in Vladivostok.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared open to a treaty, saying it was "not normal" that one still hasn't been signed after seven decades.
"Japan and Russia — both President Putin and myself — share the same position and determination to solve our territorial disputes," he said.
But a Japanese government spokesman said Japan's position had not changed and that the issue of sovereignty over the islands needed to be resolved before signing any treaties with Russia.
The Soviet Union seized the four islands north of Hokkaido and east of Sakhalin in the closing days of World War II.
Russia calls the islands the Kurils, while Japan calls them the Northern Territories. Russia has sovereignty over the islands. Japan wants them back.
The islands are rich in minerals and rare metals, and its waters are excellent fishing grounds.
Putin and Abe have met more than 20 times to discuss the dispute.
Abe has proposed making the islands a joint economic zone, which could lead to a settlement.
俄罗斯总统普京周三表示，他希望在年底前与日本签署正式的和平条约，无条件地结束第二次世界大战延伸下来的敌对状态。
二战结束73年后，这两个国家由于在北方四岛的归属问题上仍有分歧而在理论上仍然处于战争状态。
普京在符拉迪沃斯托克举行的经济会议上说：“让我们签署和平条约......之后在和平条约的基础上我们将作为朋友继续谈论所有分歧。”
日本首相安倍晋三似乎对和平条约的想法持开放态度，称七十年后仍未签署条约并非“正常”。
他说：“日本和俄罗斯 - 无论是普京总统还是我本人 - 都有同样的立场和决心来解决我们的领土争端。”
但日本政府发言人表示，日本的立场没有改变，在与俄罗斯签署任何条约之前，需要解决这些岛屿的主权归属问题。
前苏联在第二次世界大战的最后几天占领了北海道以北和萨哈林岛以东的四个岛屿。
俄罗斯称这些岛屿为南千岛群岛，而日本称其为北方四岛。俄罗斯对这些岛屿拥有主权。但日本希望这些岛屿回归。
这些岛屿富含矿物质和稀有金属，附近水域是绝佳的渔场。
普京和安倍已经就这一领土争议举行了20多次会谈。
安倍提议将这些岛屿列为一个联合经济区，这可能会带来两国达成和解。