Tokyo Plans to Find New Opportunities for Cooperation With Moscow on Kurils

TOKYO (Sputnik) – The Japanese delegation, whose five-day visit to the Kuril Islands will kick off on Tuesday and will last until Saturday, is expected to visit the facilities that have been recognized as prospective for development of joint Russian-Japanese economic activity on the Kuril Islands. The delegation includes 70 businessmen and government officials.

"The specific projects cannot be formed until we find out the situation on the ground, that is why this trip is a great step forward. We intend to carry out a very detailed research and find hidden opportunities. This research is necessary to accelerate implementation and fill the agreements, reached by the two states’ leaders with content," Hasegawa said.

Russian-Japanese relations have long been complicated by the fact that the two nations have never signed a permanent peace treaty after World War II ended. This was due to a disagreement over a group of islands, which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan the Northern Territories, which consist of four territories: Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai.

The revitalization of the relations between Moscow and Tokyo started when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and presented an eight-point bilateral economic plan during his landmark visit to Russia’s Sochi in May 2016. The plan covers such areas as oil and gas development, and the modernization of ports and airports in the Russian Far East. In September, Abe participated in the 2016 Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Russia’s Vladivostok.

On April 21, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Hiroshige Seko said the bolstered economic relations between Tokyo and Moscow could be attributed to the trust Abe and Putin have for one another.