Building trust is crucial for Russia-Japan peace treaty - upper house speaker

TOKYO, November 1. /TASS/.Creation of the atmosphere of trust should be a keystone for concluding a peace treaty between Moscow and Tokyo, Russia’s Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said on Tuesday. "Whatever areas of cooperation we speak about - the work on preparing the peace treaty or expanding our economic cooperation - the most important thing in all these areas is to build the atmosphere of trust between our countries and our peoples," she said at the meeting with the representatives of the Council of Friendly Exchanges, a Japanese NGO. The parliaments of Russia and Japan play a special role here, Matviyenko stressed. The delegation of Russia’s upper house of parliament led by Matviyenko is paying an official visit to Japan. Matviyenko said the Russian senators were set to "create all conditions for expanding inter-parliamentary cooperation" with Tokyo. Russia and Japan have no peace treaty signed after World War II. The settlement of this problem inherited by Russia’s diplomacy from the Soviet Union is hampered by the years-long dispute over the four islands of Russia’s Southern Kurils - Shikotan, Habomai, Iturup and Kunashir, which Japan calls its northern territories. Read more