Komeito chief, in Moscow, calls for advancing isle talks

September 14, 2017

MOSCOW- Visiting Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi stressed on Wednesday that now is the time to move forward in territorial talks between Tokyo and Moscow on four Russian-held islands claimed by Japan.

"We now see a golden opportunity (to advance the bilateral relations), and we can't afford to lose this," he said in a lecture at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in the Russian capital.

"The time is coming for both countries to do what must be done," Yamaguchi said. Komeito is the coalition partner of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Yamaguchi pointed out that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin have been building mutual trust by holding a number of bilateral summits.

The Japan-Russia relationship entered a new stage after their December 2016 summit in Japan, he added. The meeting was held for two days, in Nagato, Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, part of Abe's parliamentary constituency, on the first day and in Tokyo on the second day.

At the summit, Abe and Putin agreed to launch talks on joint economic activities on and around the disputed northwestern Pacific islands under a special framework that does not undermine both countries legal positions.

The Komeito chief called the agreement a "significant step" toward the conclusion of a peace treaty to formally end World War II hostilities between Tokyo and Moscow.

"Komeito will collect its wisdom and do all it can to find a solution for the territorial issue that is acceptable to both sides," Yamaguchi said.

The islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan, were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of the war. The territorial dispute has blocked the conclusion of a bilateral peace treaty.

Meanwhile, Yamaguchi noted that it is extremely important for Japan and Russia to strengthen their security cooperation for ensuring peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

He condemned North Korea's sixth nuclear test, conducted on Sept. 3, as totally unacceptable and said that the Japanese ruling bloc will closely work with the international community, including Russia, to make sure that a series of U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions against North Korea will have real effects. Jiji Press