Russia to invite Japanese for tour of disputed islands

April 26, 2018

Moscow- Russia plans to invite Japanese people this summer for a sightseeing tour of four disputed northwestern Pacific islands, the Interfax news agency quoted a Sakhalin provincial official as saying Tuesday.

The tour is being considered as part of planned joint economic activities between Japan and Russia on the islands, which are held by Moscow but claimed by Tokyo.

There is a possibility that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin will reach some kind of agreement on the tour when they meet in Russia late next month.

About 150 people are expected to participate in the tour, which will be organized as a test intended to gauge future demand, the Sakhalin official said.

Japan has been cautious about the tour, but Russia expects positive effects from it, the official said.

Japan and Russia are considering five areas, including tourism and aquafarming, for the joint economic activities.

The two countries aim to make progress toward an early implementation of projects in the joint economic activities when the leaders meet.

In 2016, Abe and Putin agreed to start talks on the joint economic activities, which Tokyo hopes will help the two countries build confidence in each other and resolve their territorial dispute over the islands.

The islands were seized from Japan by Soviet troops in the closing days of World War II. Jiji Press