TOKYO, November 1 (RIA Novosti) – Russian foreign and defense ministers will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during their current visit to Japan, a source in the Russian delegation said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Japan Friday to discuss bilateral relations with their Japanese counterparts within a “2+2 ministerial format.”
According to the source, the Japanese prime minister will hold talks with Lavrov and Shoigu on November 2.
The agenda of the talks will most likely include a decades-old territorial dispute over the four Kuril Islands in the north Pacific that has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty after the Second World War.
During their meeting in Moscow in late April, Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to resume negotiations on the treaty.
The Russian side also plans to take issue with the placement of US missile defense elements in Japan.
Washington and Tokyo agreed in October to broaden their military collaboration for the first time in 16 years.
As part of the agreement, the US will deploy a new X-band missile-defense radar at the Kyogamisaki airbase in western Japan’s Kyoto prefecture to join an existing AN/TPY-2 radar in Japan’s northern Aomori prefecture.
Russia has been keeping a close eye on US moves to deploy missile defenses around the arc of the South China Sea in addition to the disputed European missile shield.
Other issues on the agenda of the talks will include regional security, bilateral economic cooperation and cultural exchanges, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
