Japan, Russia agree to accelerate talks on joint isle activities

March 21, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his visiting Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, agreed on Wednesday to accelerate talks on specifics of planned joint economic activities at the four disputed northwestern Pacific islands so that certain progress can be made when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits Russia possibly in May.

At the beginning of his meeting with Lavrov in Tokyo, Kono said that Japan wants to work closely with Russia to help the two countries make headway during Abe's expected Russia visit.

He stressed the need for Tokyo and Moscow to conclude a peace treaty partly by deepening mutual understanding between Japanese and Russian people.

Lavrov said that Russia hopes to move forward with preparations for a possible Russo-Japanese summit in May by utilizing Wednesday's meeting with Kono, noting that the bilateral summit would be very important.

This was the first meeting between the foreign ministers of Japan and Russia since Russian President Vladimir Putin won his fourth term in Sunday's election.

The four Russian-controlled islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and claimed by the country, were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II. The territorial row has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from concluding a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities.

On the joint activities at the islands, Kono and Lavrov agreed to aim for implementing projects in five sectors, including tourism and aquaculture, at an early time.

They also confirmed that Japan and Russia will promote talks on allowing former Japanese residents to travel to the islands by air this year to visit their relatives' graves there, after such an air trip took place for the first time last year.

On an attempted assassination apparently with a nerve agent of a former Russian spy in Britain earlier this month, Kono said that the use of a chemical weapon can not be tolerated, stressing the need to uncover the truth about the incident.

Kono and Lavrov affirmed close bilateral cooperation toward the denuclearization of North Korea, ahead of a planned meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in in late April and a summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump, which is expected to be held by May.

They also agreed to facilitate Japan-Russia working-level talks, including a strategic dialogue between the two countries' vice foreign ministers in Moscow next month. Jiji Press