21 November 2016, 07:35 GMT
TOKYO (Sputnik) — The joint economic activity implies the development of infrastructure including the modernization of roads and harbors, improvement of fishing facilities and fish processing technologies as well as cooperation in the energy sector with the construction of geothermal power plants, Kyodo News Agency said.
Earlier in the day, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga refused to comment on the joint economic activity on Kuril islands at a press conference.
The relations between Japan and Russia are tainted by the lack of the peace treaty after World War II. Japan claims back four Kuril islands Kunashir, Shikotan, Habomai and Iturup, which became part of the Soviet Union's territory according to the outcomes of WWII. Moscow maintains that the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty transferring control of the islands to the Soviet Union establishes Russian sovereignty over the Kurils, which Tokyo classifies as its northern territories.
