Tokyo - The leaders of Russia and Japan dug in their heels yesterday over a territorial row blocking the path to a bilateral peace treaty formally ending the second World War. President Vladimir Putin told Japan's Prime Minister, Mr Yoshiro Mori, that a 1998 proposal by Tokyo to redraw their border to recognise four disputed islands as Japanese territory "cannot be accepted as the basis for a mutually acceptable compromise".
Mr Putin also had difficulty persuading Mr Mori that Russia under his leadership had become a safer and more reliable place for Japanese businessmen to invest their money. But despite the setbacks, Mr Putin and Mr Mori said they would hold at least one official meeting a year from now.