MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. The date for Russian-Japanese consultations in the 2+2 format with participation of foreign and defense ministers has not been set yet, Japan's Ambassador to Moscow Toyohisa Kozuki said in an interview with TASS.
"The schedule of contacts between foreign ministers and the next round of Japanese-Russian consultations in the 2+2 format is being coordinated through diplomatic channels," Kodzuki said.
Talking about March consultations on the peace treaty between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov and his Japanese counterpart Takeo Mori, the ambassador said that difficult issues have not been resolved yet but progress has been seen on some other aspects. "In particular, the consultations focused on issues of joint economic activity on the four southern islands of the Kuril ridge, humanitarian interests of former Japanese residents on these islands, including visiting the graves of ancestors with the help of air flights - an agreement on organizing such visit in the summer of 2019 was reached at the January meeting at the highest level," Kodzuki noted.
"The Japanese side assigns great importance to the unprecedented cooperation between our countries on the four islands, because it contributes to creating the atmosphere of trust for signing a peace treaty," the diplomat added.