TOKYO (Sputnik) — Japan's head of state is due in Russia later in the day for talks with President Vladimir Putin. The leaders are expected to discuss ways of harnessing the economic potential of Russia’s Southern Kuril Islands, a former Japanese island chain.
"I want a frank dialogue on such urgent issues as tensions on the Korean peninsula, the situation in Syria and other international problems, and hope for a joint approach to them," Abe told reporters before leaving for Moscow.
Relations between Japan and Russia have recently re-vitalized, as in September 2016, Abe took part in the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia's Vladivostok, during which he held a three-hour talk with Putin and presented the bilateral economic plan covering issues of cooperation in the sphere of gas, oil, aviation and port modernization.
In December 2016, Putin visited Japan and held a meeting with Abe. As a result, both sides agreed to begin developing economic cooperation in the disputed southern Kuril islands in order to create conditions for negotiations on a peace treaty between the countries.
