Abe-Putin meeting set for Jan. 22 in Moscow

January 15, 2019

Moscow--The foreign ministers of Japan and Russia kicked off talks on a bilateral peace treaty under a new negotiation framework on Monday, agreeing that a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin will take place in Moscow on the afternoon of Jan. 22.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, met, in the Russian capital, for the first time since Abe and Putin, at their talks in Buenos Aires early last month, agreed on the new framework on the peace treaty negotiations that is led by the two foreign chiefs.

At their meeting in Singapore last November, Abe and Putin agreed that Tokyo and Moscow will accelerate the peace treaty negotiations, also covering their longstanding territorial issue over four Russian-controlled northwestern Pacific islands, based on the 1956 Japan-Soviet joint declaration.

Monday's meeting marked a full-fledged start of the negotiations under the new framework. But the road ahead appears bumpy, due to wide gaps between the two countries' positions on the island issue, analysts said.

The 1956 document stipulated that two of the four islands--the Habomais and Shikotan as called in Japan--be handed over to Japan after the conclusion of a bilateral peace treaty. The territorial spat has prevented the two sides from concluding a peace treaty to formally end their World War II hostilities.

The four islands are collectively known as "Hoppo Ryodo," or the Northern Territories, in Japan.

After Monday's meeting, Kono told reporters that he and Lavrov had "serious discussions," while declining to disclose specifics of the talks.

The Japanese side clarified its position, including on the territorial issue, Kono said, adding that Moscow also conveyed its detailed position to Tokyo.

Kono and Lavrov affirmed that Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Mori and his Russian counterpart, Igor Morgulov, who work for the foreign ministers under the new framework, will continue discussions on the territorial and peace treaty issues and that the two ministers will meet as needed to confirm progress.

Mori and Morgulov are set to meet on Tuesday.

Kono and Lavrov may hold their next meeting in Germany in mid-February, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, informed sources said.

At the outset of Monday's meeting, Kono expressed his hope to hold intensive discussions on a peace treaty with the Russian side based on an accord between Abe and Putin that the two countries will accelerate the bilateral negotiations, going beyond their conventional positions.

Meanwhile, Lavrov stressed that the four islands are a legacy of World War II, reiterating Moscow's stance that it came to possess the islands legally as a result of the war. Japan should refrain from making one-sided arguments on the territorial issue, he added.

At a press conference after the meeting, Lavrov said he warned the Japanese side that the issue of sovereignty over the islands will not be discussed under the new negotiation framework.

Lavrov urged Japan to recognize the results of World War II, including Moscow's sovereignty over the islands, stressing that this will be the first step. Unless Japan does this, making progress in the bilateral negotiations will be very difficult, he cautioned.

Lavrov also said that Russia cannot accept Japan's description of the islands as Hoppo Ryodo under domestic law, indicating Moscow's stance of calling on Tokyo to change the name of the island chain.

Tokyo claims that the former Soviet Union illegally seized the islands from Japan at the end of the war in violation of the 1941 Japan-Soviet neutrality pact.

The Kono-Lavrov meeting was held for about four hours, including over lunch. Mori and Morgulov were present in the foreign ministers' talks.

The foreign ministers also discussed joint economic activities on the disputed islands and economic cooperation in the Russian Far East region.

This was the eighth meeting between Kono and Lavrov. They last met in November 2018. Jiji Press