In 2018, when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Singapore, the countries were as close as possible to concluding a peace treaty. This was announced by the former head of the Japanese government Abe in an interview with the business newspaper Nikkei, excerpts from which were published on Saturday. We came as close as possible, Abe emphasized. According to him, even at a meeting in Nagato in 2016, he felt that the Russian president was ready to solve this problem. According to Abe, the conclusion of a peace treaty between Japan and Russia in 2018 was prevented by the aggravation of relations between Russia and the United States, after the events in Ukraine. Recall that at a meeting in Singapore in November 2018, Putin and Abe agreed to intensify negotiations on a peace treaty between the countries on the basis of the Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration of October 19, 1956. See also: In Japan, they lose hope for the accession of the Kuril Isl...