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Japanese prime minister to visit Moscow on April 27-28 — media

TOKYO, April 12. /TASS/. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to the Russian capital on April 27-28 to discuss joint economic activities on the Kuril Islands, the Kyodo news agency reported Wednesday citing a Japanese politician.

"The Russian side is holding preparations for (Abe’s) visit due April 27-28," the agency quoted Muneo Suzuki, a Japanese ex-lawmaker and one of the leading experts on Russia, as saying after a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov in Moscow Tuesday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier said the visit was scheduled for late April, but gave no specific date.

In December 2016, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on joint development economic initiatives on the islands. The two sides adopted a joint statement, which said that the beginning of consultations on joint economic activities on the South Kuril Islands would be an important step towards signing a peace treaty by the two neighbors.

On March 18, officials of the two governments met in Tokyo for the first round of Russian-Japanese consultations regarding joint economic activities on the South Kuril Islands. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov and his Japanese counterpart Takeo Akiba participated in the consultations.