Senior Japanese diplomat hails trust-based relations of Russian, Japanese leaders

TOKYO, April 26. /TASS/. Japan sees relations between the Japanese and Russian leaders as trust-based, the factor that can play a big role in negotiating a peace treaty, Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba told TASS ahead of a new meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday, April 27. "It is an abnormal situation when more than 70 years after the end of the war, Russia and Japan still have not signed a peace treaty, and the leaders of the two countries share this viewpoint," the senior diplomat said in an interview with TASS. "Relations between the leaders of our countries are at an all-time high at the moment. By the present moment, they have already met 16 times, meeting four times alone last year," Takeo Akiba went on. In December 2016, the two leaders held talks in Nagato, the home city of the Japanese prime minister, "expressing a sincere bid to settle the problem of a peace treaty". "Russia is a major player in the Asia-Pacific region, it is an important neighbor of Japan," Akiba said. "On March 20, Tokyo hosted a conference of the Japanese and Russian foreign and defense ministers, in the so-called "two-plus-two" format, which confirmed that our countries are serious partners that make contribution to peace and stability in the region. In particular, the sides were united in a bid to closely cooperate on the problem of North Korea," the diplomat went on. The deputy minister said Japan condemns the recent terrorist attack on St. Petersburg’s subway and intends to closely cooperate with Russia on fight against terrorism and other threats. "It would be a good thing if we managed to agree on bolstering our cooperation in these spheres during the visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe," the diplomat said. He recalled that last December, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to hold a cross-cultural year of Russia in Japan and Japan in Russia in 2018. "We hope our relations will deepen in the sphere of cultural and human exchanges," Takeo Akiba said. Read more