Abe, Putin vow to take leadership in peace treaty talks

January 23, 2019

Moscow--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Tuesday that they will take the leadership in the two countries' efforts to conclude a World War II peace treaty while reconfirming their intention to promote bilateral negotiations, including on the longstanding Tokyo-Moscow territorial row, based on the 1956 Japan-Soviet joint declaration.

But clouds appear to be hanging over Abe's scenario that the two sides will reach a broad accord in June, when Putin is slated to visit Japan to attend the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, western Japan, as the president did not mention the issue of sovereignty over the four Russian-controlled northwestern Pacific islands at the center of the territorial dispute, at a joint press conference with Abe, held after their meeting in Moscow on the day.

At the press conference, Abe said he hopes that the foreign ministers of the two countries will hold their next meeting in Germany in February, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, in order to make progress in the bilateral negotiations.

"President Putin and I reaffirmed our resolve to take the leadership to powerfully promote the bilateral work on finding a solution acceptable to both sides," he said.

Putin echoed Abe's stance, saying that he aims to achieve a mutually acceptable solution and that development in the two countries' multifaceted and overall relations will be needed for that purpose.

But the Russian leader made no reference to specifics of possible draft clauses of a peace treaty, a target date for reaching an accord or the sovereignty issue over the Japanese-claimed islands.

The peace treaty negotiations will require patience, Putin said, adding that acceptance by the people of the two countries and support from the public will be needed.

Due to the territorial dispute, Tokyo and Moscow have still be unable to conclude a peace treaty to formally end their World War II hostilities.

Tokyo's position is that the islands, collectively known as the Northern Territories in the country, were seized from Japan by the former Soviet Union at the end of the war, while Russia claims that the islands legally became Soviet territory as a result of the war.

The 1956 Japan-Soviet declaration called for the handover of two of the four islands--the Habomais and Shikotan--to Japan after the conclusion of a peace treaty. The document had no reference to the other two islands--Etorofu and Kunashiri.

At Tuesday's meeting, Abe and Putin instructed relevant officials to step up efforts to make progress in bilateral work on launching joint economic activities on and around the disputed islands.

During the joint press conference, Putin underscored Russia's eagerness to expand economic exchanges with Japan, saying that he and Abe agreed to boost trade between the two nations by 50 pct to 30 billion dollars or more in the next couple of years.

The two leaders also agreed that the next air travel to the islands by former Japanese residents for visits to graves of their relatives there will be made as early as this summer.

This was the 25th meeting between Abe and Putin. The latest bilateral summit was also joined by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

When they met in Singapore last November, Abe and Putin agreed to accelerate the peace treaty negotiations based on the 1956 declaration.

Meeting in Argentina in December, the two leaders decided to carry out the negotiations under a new framework, which is led by Kono and Lavrov.

At the Kono-Lavrov meeting in Moscow on Jan. 14, the first session under the new framework, however, a wide gap between the two sides was shown anew, with the Russian foreign minister saying that the issue of sovereignty over the disputed islands will not be discussed under the new framework. Jiji Press