Abe, Putin to Meet in Moscow on May 26

May 12, 2018

Moscow- Yuri Ushakov, foreign affairs adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Friday that the president will hold a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Moscow on May 26, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

Abe is slated to attend an international economic forum to be held in St. Petersburg, the second-biggest Russian city, on May 25.

During Abe's visit to Russia, the Japanese and Russian governments are aiming to reach an agreement on the launch of joint economic activities on and around Russian-controlled northwestern Pacific islands at the center of the two countries' decades-old territorial dispute.

In a related move on Friday, high-ranking Japanese and Russian officials held detailed talks in Moscow on five areas for the joint activities, including tourism and aquaculture.

Participants included Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Mori and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov.

Also present was Eiichi Hasegawa, special adviser to the Japanese prime minister. Hasegawa served as head of a public-private delegation that visited some of the four disputed islands last year for research related to the joint economic activities.

After the meeting, Mori told reporters that the participants checked progress made so far and discussed how to proceed with their talks.

"We hope to actively make preparations so that we can continue moving ahead for our common goal of concluding a peace treaty," he added.

The four islands in question were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II. The islands have long been claimed by Japan, where they are known as the Northern Territories.

The territorial row has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from concluding a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities. Jiji Press