Japan's Abe: need peace treaty with Russia to promote economic cooperation

ST PETERSBURG (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that Russia and Japan should sign a peace treaty so that they can realise their economic cooperation ambitions.

Russia and Japan have not signed an official peace treaty after World War Two due to a dispute over a number of Pacific islands off the northeast coast of Japan.

Abe, speaking at an economic forum in Russia attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that the islands could become a symbol of cooperation between Tokyo and Moscow.

(Reporting by Denis Pinchuk, Katya Golubkova and Christian Lowe; Writing by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Hugh Lawson)