Russia's Putin says peace deal with Japan will be hard work

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday there was lots of hard work ahead to reach a peace treaty with Japan.

Putin was speaking to reporters following talks in Moscow with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss a deal that could resolve a decades-old territorial dispute between the countries.

Russia and Japan never signed a formal treaty to end hostilities after World War Two. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Christian Lowe; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by John Stonestreet)