MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed signing a World WarII peace treaty with Japan by the end of the year without preconditions.

During a session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, RussianPresident said we have been trying to solve the territorial dispute for 70years.

The dispute between Russia and Japan centres on four islands in thestrategically-located Kuril chain which the Soviet Union occupied at theend of war in 1945 but are claimed by Japan.