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Senior Russian, Japanese diplomats discuss upcoming political contacts

Earlier, Japan's top diplomat Taro Kono said the two sides were negotiating the issue of his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Tokyo

MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov and his Japanese counterpart Takeo Mori have discussed preparations for political contacts between Moscow and Tokyo scheduled for 2019, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Tuesday.

"[The parties] discussed issues related to the current state and prospects for Russian-Japanese relations, including preparations for bilateral political contacts scheduled for this year," the ministry said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono earlier said the two sides were negotiating the issue of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Tokyo.

Russia and Japan have been in talks to sign a peace treaty since the middle of last century. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed at a meeting last November to intensify Russian-Japanese negotiations on signing a peace treaty based on the Joint Declaration of October 19, 1956.