Russia-Japan may hold summit this year
The Japanese Prime Minister said he is ready to hold a meeting with Russian President Putin, expected around November-December this year, and affirmed the importance of this summit.
On September 14, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he is ready to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, expected around November-December this year, and affirmed the importance of this summit.
In a televised debate with candidates for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential election on September 20, Prime Minister Abe emphasized the importance of upcoming negotiations between the leaders of the two countries.
Previously, on September 12, at the plenary session of the fourth Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Russia, President Putin proposed signing a peace treaty with Japan by the end of this year without any preconditions.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Prime Minister agreed to change his approach, affirming his determination to work with the Russian leader to promote the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries. However, Mr. Abe said that he and President Putin both understood very well that this would not be easy to do.
Prime Minister Abe affirmed that the issue of sovereignty over the disputed territories, which Moscow calls the Southern Kurils, while Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, must be resolved before the two countries officially sign a peace treaty, ending the hostility between the two sides.
The Japanese leader said Tokyo needs to probe Moscow's position and of course Tokyo's position is to resolve the territorial dispute and then complete a peace treaty.
The territorial dispute prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty after World War II, seriously affecting bilateral diplomatic and trade relations. Japan and Russia have shown goodwill to resolve the dispute by promoting joint economic activities on the archipelago./.
