UNITED NATIONS, September 26. /TASS/. Japan and Russia agreed to start working on a soonest visit to Russia by Japan’s new foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
The meeting was agreed during talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Motegi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
"In connection with the invitation to visit Russia, received from Foreign Minister Lavrov, an agreement was reached to work on organizing Minister Motegi’s visit to Russia as soon as possible," the ministry said in a statement.
Japan also expects Lavrov to visit a meeting of G20 foreign ministers, to be held in late November in the Japanese city of Nagoya.
"The sides agreed to develop bilateral relations within a wide range of areas, including politics, economy and the peace treaty issue. As far as joint business activities on the four northern islands [Japan’s name for Russia’s Southern Kurils], the ministers welcomed the progress in the sectors of tourism and waste disposal," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
According to a statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the two ministers discussed the schedule of bilateral contacts and cooperation within the UN framework.
"In line with the agreements, reached as a result of the Russian-Japanese summit in Vladivostok on September 5, an exchange of opinions was held on topical issues of bilateral relations. The schedule of political dialogue was considered. The ministers discussed certain aspects of cooperation within the UN framework," the ministry said in a statement, published on Wednesday.
Japan’s new minister earlier said, answering to a TASS question, that he was pleased with the results of the bilateral talks.
Prior to that, Motegi spoke in favor of a soonest meeting with Lavrov for discussions on the peace treaty issue.
Motegi was appointed Japan’s new foreign minister as a result of a major reshuffle in the Japanese cabinet on September 11.
Peace treaty issue
Since the mid-20th century, Russia and Japan have been holding consultations in order to clinch a peace treaty as a follow-up to World War II. The Kuril Islands issue remains the sticking point since after WWII the islands were handed over to the Soviet Union while Japan laid claims to the four southern islands. In 1956, the two countries signed a joint declaration on ending the state of war and restoring diplomatic and all other relations, however, a peace treaty has still not been reached. Moscow has stated many times that Russia’s sovereignty over the islands cannot be called into question.
On November 14, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Singapore and agreed that the two countries would speed up peace treaty talks based on the 1956 declaration.
The Joint Declaration said that the Soviet government was ready to hand Shikotan Island and a group of small islands over to Japan, adding that Tokyo would get actual control of the islands after a peace treaty was signed. However, after Japan and the United States had signed the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security in 1960, the Soviet Union withdrew its obligation to hand over the islands. A Soviet government’s memorandum dated January 27, 1960, said that those islands would only be handed over to Japan if all foreign troops were pulled out of the country.