Russia, Japan have time to sign peace treaty until their leaders’ office terms expire - expert

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. Russian and Japan have time to reach a peace treaty as long as their leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who have proved to be able to maintain dialogue on that problem, are in office, a Russian expert told TASS on Tuesday. Valery Kistanov, director of the Center for Japanese Studies of the Russia Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies, noted that if the two countries want to settle this matter once and for all they have time until the office terms of their leaders expire. "The window of opportunities is open as long as Putin and Abe have contacts. But no one knows who will succeed them and what his stance will be," he said, citing as an example Japanese former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s repeated claims for the return of the Kuril Islands and a chill in the Russian-Japanese relations over Dmitry Medvedev’s presidency in Russia. "As long as there is talk about a compromise, as long as meetings are held in a friendly atmosphere, the sides probably have a chance, although small, to find a solution to this more than a half century-long problem," Kistanov said. In his words, the very fact of talks between the two leaders is inspiring optimism, despite the fact that they said practically nothing about any progress on the peace treaty problem after them. "It inspires certain optimism that the meeting did take place because there was a feeling that it might be postponed for a while. The meeting might have been cancelled because relations seemed to have chilled after a series of statements from the Japanese side at the end of the last year and early this year, which gave grounds to questions on our part," he said, adding he means Tokyo’s speculations about the future of Habomai and Shikotan residents in case these islands are handed over to Japan. "There was a feeling after these statements that a pause in contacts will follow. It doesn’t happen and it is good," he stressed. Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held talks on Tuesday that focused on the problem of the peace treaty between the two countries. Abe’s office term as prime minister expires in 2021 and Putin will stay in office till 2024. Read more