TOKYO, January 22. /TASS/. Within the framework of their peace treaty talks Russia and Japan are considering the possibility of including in that document a special clause on security guarantees stating that both sides will refrain from hostile military actions against each other, the Japanese news agency Kyodo said on Tuesday with reference to diplomatic sources.
Kyodo says that in this case the two countries would be able to avoid situations in which the Japanese-US alliance might be targeted against Russia. Tokyo hopes that such a clause would eliminate threats from Russia as a major military power. At the same time Kyodo remarks that such an agreement might impose restrictions on the Japanese-Russian security treaty.
The agency points out that Russia has repeatedly voiced concern over the possibility US forces might be deployed on the South Kuril islands. In the process of negotiations it became clear that Russia and Japan should consider the possibility of an agreement addressing the issue of security guarantees.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday arrived in Moscow on a visit. It is expected that he will hold more talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kyodo says Abe is prepared to consider the possibility of concluding a peace treaty with Russia on the condition of the handover to Tokyo of the island of Shikotan and the adjoining smaller islands. As for Iturup and Kunashir, Tokyo has reportedly recognized the demand for having these islands, too, as unrealistic.
Putin and Abe decided to step up negotiations on a pace treaty in Singapore last November. The two sides agreed to use as a basis the Joint Declaration of October 19, 1956. The declaration terminated the state of war between the two countries and restored diplomatic and consular relations. In Article 9 the Soviet government agreed to hand over to Japan the island of Shikotan and a number of uninhabited islands of the Lesser Kuril Chain on the condition their actual transfer would take place only after the conclusion of the peace treaty. The parliaments of both countries ratified that declaration on December 8, 1956.