RUSSIAN Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied yesterday that Moscow was imposing an ultimatum on Japan in talks to end a decades-long territorial dispute, but called on Tokyo to recognize the results of World War II.

Japan is seeking a peace deal with Russia it hopes will end a dispute over islands captured by Soviet troops in the last days of World War II.

The islands are known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has launched a diplomatic campaign to strike a deal with Moscow.

Russia says Tokyo must recognize Russian sovereignty over the islands before progress can be made in peace talks, however.

“These are not pre-conditions, it’s just an effort to understand why Japan is the only country in the world which cannot say: ‘I accept the results of World War II in their entirety,’” Lavrov said. (SD-Agencies)