[(Title)] Japanese PM reaffirms willingness to resolve territorial issue with Russia.

TOKYO, July 26. /TASS/. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reiterated his commitment to resolving the territorial issue with Russia.

日本首相安倍晋三重申致力于解决与俄罗斯的领土问题。

"I want to continue an intense and active negotiation process, which will lead to solving [the problem]," Kyodo News quotes the Japanese premier as saying at a meeting with schoolchildren, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of former residents of the Kuril Islands, which Japan calls the "Northern Territories."

《共同新闻》引述日本首相在与日本称之为"北方领土"的库尔群岛的学生，及前居民的孙辈的会晤中所说的话：“我想继续一个紧张而积极的谈判进程，这将导致[问题]的解决。

For their part, schoolchildren from Japan's northern Hokkaido island asked the prime minister to spare no effort to make sure that former residents [of these territories] "could freely visit the four northern islands as soon as possible."

来自日本北海道北部岛屿的学童要求首相不遗余力地确保[这些领土]的前居民“能够尽快自由地访问北方四岛”。

Russia and Japan have been in talks to sign a peace treaty since the middle of last century. The main stumbling block to this is the issue of the ownership of the Southern Kuril Islands.

自上个世纪中叶以来，俄罗斯和日本就一直在商谈签署一项和平条约，其主要障碍是南库里尔群岛的所有权问题。

After the end of World War II the Kuril Islands were incorporated into the Soviet Union. However, the ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan Islands and the Habomai Islands is challenged by Japan.

第二次世界大战结束后，库里尔群岛被纳入了苏联，但日本对Iturup、Kunashir、Shikotan群岛和Habomai群岛的所有权提出质疑。

In 1956, the Soviet Union and Japan signed a joint declaration on ceasing the state of war, however no peace treaty has been signed until now. Moscow has stated on numerous occasions that Russia's sovereignty over the islands could not be questioned.

1956年，苏联和日本签署了关于停止战争状态的联合声明，但迄今尚未签署任何和平条约，莫斯科多次声明，俄罗斯对这些岛屿的主权不容置疑。