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Russia-Japan dispute over Kuril Islands

Japanese premier set to settle peace treaty issue jointly with Putin

Meanwhile, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga later told reporters during a regular news conference that Tokyo’s basic stance on the issue remains unchanged

TOKYO, November 14. /TASS/. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he was full of determination to solve the Russia-Japan peace treaty issue together with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I am full of determination to solve the peace treaty issue jointly with President Putin and intend to reach serious progress in negotiations on the matter," the Kyodo news agency on Wednesday quoted the Japanese leader as saying before his departure to Singapore, where he would hold talks with the Russian president.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga later told reporters during a regular news conference that Tokyo’s basic stance on the issue remains unchanged.

"As far as the upcoming top-level talks are concerned, I would like to abstain from comments on the matter. However, we expect to hold intense consultations on the basis of our basic stance - the issue of sovereignty over the four northern islands [Russia’s Southern Kurils] comes first, followed by signing of a peace treaty. This stance remains unchanged," he said.

During the meeting with Putin, Abe would put forward a proposal to speed up negotiations on the Kuril issue with an aim of signing a framework agreement in 2019 (possibly, during Putin’s visit to the G20 summit in Japan in June), Japan’s Mainichi newspaper reported last Saturday, citing Japanese government sources.

Since the mid-20th century, Russia and Japan have been holding consultations in order to clinch a peace treaty as a follow-up to World War II. The Kuril Islands issue remains the sticking point since after WWII the islands were handed over to the Soviet Union while Japan has laid claims to the four southern islands. In 1956, the two countries signed a common declaration on ending the state of war and restoring diplomatic and all other relations, however, a peace treaty has still not been reached. Moscow has stated many times that Russia’s sovereignty over the islands could not be questioned.

During the Eastern Economic Forum’s plenary session on September 12, Putin suggested concluding a peace treaty between Moscow and Tokyo without any preconditions before the end of the year. Commenting on the initiative, the Japanese Foreign Ministry told TASS that Tokyo would engage in talks with Russia on the peace treaty only after the territorial dispute is settled.

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