Abe-Putin summit planned for June 29

June 1, 2019

Tokyo--Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his visiting Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, agreed Friday to consider arranging a bilateral summit for June 29 in the western Japan city of Osaka.

They confirmed the scheduling plan for the meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin, at their meeting in Tokyo for talks on issues related to the two nations' longstanding territorial dispute and their wish to sign a World War II peace treaty.

Putin is slated to visit Japan to attend the two-day summit of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies in Osaka from June 28.

Abe aims to achieve concrete progress in the territorial and peace treaty issues at the talks with Putin, in the run-up to this summer's election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament.

Kono and Lavrov confirmed that the two countries will hold a bureau-chief-level meeting on June 11 to discuss joint economic activities on and around four Russian-controlled northwestern Pacific islands at the center of the territorial row.

At a press conference after Friday's meeting, Kono said he "clearly expressed Japan's stance" over sovereignty, perceptions of history and other contentious aspects in the dispute over the Japanese-claimed islands, known as the Northern Territories in the Asian country.

Kono, however, stopped short of referring the islands as "inherent territory of Japan" or saying they have been "illegally occupied" by Russia.

The islands were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II. The dispute has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from concluding a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities.

Lavrov stressed his resolve to make steady efforts in the territorial and peace treaty talks, citing an agreement reached last November between Abe and Putin to accelerate the negotiations based on the 1956 Japan-Soviet joint declaration.

Still, he indicated gaps between the two sides, while noting that they are in active discussion.

The 1956 document stipulated the handover of Shikotan and the Habomais--two of the four islands--after the conclusion of a peace treaty. It had no reference to the handling of the other two islands--Etorofu and Kunashiri.

On the joint economic activities on and around the disputed islands, Kono and Lavrov affirmed that Japan and Russia will continue working to put concrete projects into action at an early time.

Lavrov said he hopes that steady progress will be made at the upcoming bureau-chief-level talks for presentation to the leaders.

Kono and Lavrov also discussed a visa waiver program for trips between the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido, located close to the disputed islands, and Russia's Sakhalin.

According to Lavrov, the start of negotiations on the conclusion of a bilateral investment pact was on the agenda as well. Jiji Press