Japan will work on improving relations with Russia step by step - prime minister

TOKYO, January 26. /TASS/. Japan will work on improving relations with Russia and use all possibilities to continue dialogue with the aim of resolving territorial disputes and signing a peace treaty, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a parliament session on Tuesday. "The territorial issue is the problem that cannot be solved without dialogue between the leaders. We will continue using different opportunities for dialogue with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. We will work step by step on strengthening relations in different spheres for resolving any problems with the aim of signing a peace treaty," Abe said. On January 22, "a telephone conversation was held with the Russian president where the sides exchanged opinions on the situation with North Korea, in the Middle East, including in Syria, as well as in Ukraine," he added. Abe also said that they agreed to continue preparations for his unofficial visit to Russia before Putin’s visit to Japan. "We agreed to promote work on preparations for my unofficial visit to Russia at suitable time before Putin’s visit to Japan," the Japanese prime minister noted. On November 16, during the G20 Antalya summit Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Japanese premier could visit one of Russia’s regions before Putin’s visit to Tokyo. He noted that the president’s visit "would be further discussed." "It is possible that the visit of the Japanese prime minister to one of Russia’s regions will take place before that, this will be a topic for discussion," Peskov noted. On January 19, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, speaking about the possibility of Abe’s visit to Russia and the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Japan, noted that nothing had been finalized yet. The main stumbling block to fully mending the Russian-Japanese relations and signing a peace treaty is the Kuril Islands dispute. After World War II all the Kurile Islands were incorporated into the Soviet Union. However, Japan claims sovereignty over Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai islands. Read more