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Russia-Japan dispute over Kuril Islands

Russian, Japanese foreign ministers to hold talks in Tokyo

Sergey Lavrov’s visit aims to prepare upcoming contacts at the top level

© Sergey Fadeichev/TASS

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Putin expects compromise on disputed Kuril Islands will be found one day

TOKYO, April 15. /TASS/. Talks between the foreign ministers of Russia and Japan - Sergey Lavrov and Fumio Kishida - will be held in Tokyo on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Moscow said Lavrov’s visit aims to prepare upcoming contacts at the top level. One of the key issues of the ministerial meeting will be the problem of concluding a peace treaty.

The problem of the southern Kuril Islands is the key obstacle to a complete normalization of the Russian-Japanese ties and the signing of a peace treaty. After the Second World War, all Kuril Islands were made part of the Soviet Union. But Japan does not agree that the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai island group belong to Russia. Tokyo calls the islands "Northern Territories".

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Foreign policy Dispute over Kuril Islands

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