WorldMOSCOW, AFP -President Vladimir Putin will visit Japan in December as Moscow and Tokyo strive to ease old tensions over four disputed islands, the Kremlin said Tuesday. “Vladimir Putin's long-delayed visit to Japan will take place in December,” Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters. Putin -- who last visited Japan in 2005 -- is set to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday on the sidelines of an economic forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok. The Kremlin at the time dismissed hopes of any major breakthrough but played up Abe's visit as a symbol of warming ties despite Western attempts to isolate Putin. Russia has angered Japan recently by building new modern compounds for its troops stationed on two of the disputed islands.

Source: Sunday Times August 30, 2016 14:37 UTC