Japan continues looking for possibilities for dialogue with Russia at highest level - foreign ministry

TOKYO, December 11. /TASS/. Japan continues to look for possibilities for dialogue with Russia at the highest level in accordance with bilateral agreements, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a press conference on Friday. "The leaders of Japan and Russia held a meeting at the G20 summit (in November in Turkey’s Antalya). An agreement was reached at the meeting to continue dialogue at the highest level. In accordance with this agreement, we will continue looking for such possibilities," Kishida said. The foreign minister did not name concrete dates for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Japan and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Russia noting that "nothing has been decided yet on this matter." Japanese media earlier reported that Abe may pay a visit to Khabarovsk or Vladivostok next year. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga refuted the reports saying Abe has no such plans. The Mainichi newspaper reported on Friday that Moscow and Tokyo are currently working on organizing a possible visit of Putin to Japan in July next year. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Antalya on November 16 that the Japanese prime minister plans to visit one of Russia’s regions before Putin’s official visit to Tokyo. Peskov stressed that Putin’s visit to Japan "will be further discussed." "The Japanese prime minister’s visit to one of Russia’s regions may take place before that, and it will the topic for discussion," the Kremlin spokesman noted. Russia and Japan have no peace treaty signed after World War II. Settlement of the 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, Khabomai, Iturup and Kunashir, which Japan calls its northern territories. After World War II, in September 1945, Japan signed the capitulation, and in February 1946, the Kuril Islands were declared territories of the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, Moscow did not recognize the territorial problem, but in October 1993, when Russian president Boris Yeltsin was on an official visit in Japan, the existence of the problem was confirmed officially. However, the two countries have reached no compromise over the dispute yet. Read more