Japanese PM Abe to Visit Russia for Peace Treaty Talks in Early 2017

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Abe, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a high-level summit earlier in December, is set to hold further peace treaty talks early next year, the Kyodo news agency reported.

“I would like to push forward the process of improvement of relations [with Russia]… We should start with a creation of the future image of the four islands, which may be jointly owned by Japan and Russia,” Abe said, as quoted by the agency, adding that there were no such cases in international practice.

Abe stressed the necessity to deepen economic relations between the two countries, “which will eventually lead to the signing of a peace treaty”.

Earlier this month, Russia and Japan agreed to step up economic cooperation on the disputed Kuril Islands which have been a sticking point in peace treaty talks. Japan claims the Russian territory, gained after World War II, to be its own and has made its return a condition for signing the treaty.

Moscow and Tokyo never signed a permanent peace treaty after the World War II due to Tokyo's claims to Russia's islands, Southern Kurils, encompassing Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai.