Russia-Japan relations over disputed islands unchanged after Crimea - Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with journalists after a live broadcast nationwide call-in in Moscow April 16, 2015. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's relations with Japan over disputed Pacific Islands have not changed following Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

Tokyo and Moscow have been involved in a decades-old dispute over islands north of Hokkaido, known as the Kuriles in Russia and referred to as the Northern Territories in Japan.