Japan, Russia kick off full-fledged islet talks

January 15, 2019

Moscow--Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, started full-fledged negotiations in Moscow on Monday to resolve the issue of sovereignty over the four Russian-held islands off Japan's Hokkaido to conclude a bilateral peace treaty.

At the outset of the talks at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Kono expressed hope for intense discussions to push forward the negotiations based on the 1956 Japan-Soviet declaration as agreed on by the top leaders of the two countries.

The declaration called for the return of the Habomais and Shikotan--two of the so-called Northern Territories also including the huge islands of Etorofu and Kunashiri--to Japan and conclusion of a peace treaty to formally end World War II hostilities between the two countries.

Japan and Russia should create bilateral ties that can fully realize the two countries' big potential, Kono stressed.

Meanwhile, Lavrov reiterated Moscow's view that the then Soviet Union legally gained the islands as a result of the war, calling the islands a legacy of WWII.

Tokyo, for its part, has maintained that Soviet troops occupied the islands in violation of a bilateral neutrality treaty.

The Japanese side should refrain from making one-sided arguments on the territory issue, Lavrov urged.

But he also noted that strengthening Japan-Russia ties will contribute to the stability in the Asia-Pacific region and the entire world.

Late last year, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to accelerate the territory and peace treaty negotiations based on the declaration and set up a new negotiation framework by naming the foreign ministers to take charge of the talks.

Expressing his respect to the leaders' agreement, Lavrov pointed out that an atmosphere of mutual trust has been created. Jiji Press