Japanese PM to Pay Rare Visit To Russia

MOSCOW, April 28 (RIA Novosti) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to Russia on April 28-30 on an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin. This will be the first visit by a Japanese premier to Russia over the last 10 years.

The Kremlin earlier reported that Russian-Japanese top-level talks would be held on Monday.

The sides plan to discuss trade, economic, investment, energy, humanitarian, scientific and technological cooperation, sign a number of bilateral documents and discuss international issues, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

One of the key problems in bilateral relations is the issue of the Kuril Islands.

The row over the islands - which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories - has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from signing a permanent peace treaty following the end of World War II and remains a major stumbling block in the development of bilateral relations.