After coming to power at the end of 2012, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had sought to improve relations with Putin in the hope of beginning serious talks on the Northern Territories. But now that Putin has made his project of imperial restoration crystal clear, those hopes are stillborn.
自2012年底执政以来，日本首相安倍晋三一直在寻求改善与普京的关系，希望开启关于北方四岛的严肃谈判。但如今普京的重建帝国工程已是人所共知，安倍的希望也已胎死腹中。