"Of course, the minister will participate [in the process]. We have already reached preliminary agreements on half [of officials], but it must be agreed on the highest level," Ushakov said, answering whether Lavrov could join the circle of people responsible for stepping up the negotiation process.
READ MORE: Russia, Japan Unlikely to Bridge Peace Treaty Gaps as G20 Starts — Scholars
Earlier, a source told Sputnik that the leaders of Russia and Japan, Vladimir Putin and Shinzo Abe, would determine persons responsible for stepping up the negotiation process on a peace treaty, as well as clarify the format for discussing the issue, at a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, which is due to take place later on Saturday.
Japan and Russia have never signed a permanent peace treaty after the end of World War II due to the territorial dispute over a group of four islands that both countries claim — Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai — referred to as the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan.
