Japan and Russia agree it's time to end the Second World War

As John Lennon once said, war is over—if you want it.

It may have taken 67 years, but the leaders of Russia and Japan have finally agreed to hash out a formal peace settlement ending the Second World War.

The primary reason for the delay has been the contested status of four islands—Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Habomai—in the Kuril archipelago, which lies in the North Pacific between the two nations.

Russia has them, and Japan wants them back.

Following an agreement made at the February 1945 Allied Yalta conference, the then-Soviet Union declared war on the Empire of Japan on August 8, 1945, quickly overwhelming Manchuria, Sakhalin Island, and the Kurils.

Later, through the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco which formally ended the Second World War, Japan renounced all claims to Sakhalin Island and the northern Kurils. However, Japan has always maintained that the four islands still in question were never part of the deal.

Now, with Russia looking for new Asian markets and Japan seeking out additional energy supplies following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, it seems the two nations are more interested in doing business.

Meeting in Moscow last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to get to the bottom of the matter, saying in a joint statement that their inability to sign a peace treaty for almost seven decades was “abnormal”.

World War Two will, it seems, will go on for at least a few months as high-level talks continue.