MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st September, 2021) Russia will introduce new incentives for foreign partners that are ready for cooperation on the Kuril Islands, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.
"New incentives will soon be announced for foreign partners that are ready to work with us in this part of the Russian Federation [the Kuril Islands]. I think there will be strong interest [on their side]," Lavrov stated at a meeting with Moscow State Institute of International Relations students.
There are prospects of joint economic and investment exploration of the area by Russia and Japan, Lavrov stated, adding that Russia has already come up with respective proposals, which Japan though did not take seriously.
Russia and Japan are locked in a protracted dispute over the Islands. Japan lays claims to the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai islands in Kuril Island chain, citing the 1855 bilateral treaty on trade and borders. Russia insists that its sovereignty over the islands, which became part of the USSR after WWII, is undisputed. In 1956, the Soviet Union and Japan signed a joint declaration in which Moscow agreed to consider the possibility of transferring Habomai and Shikotan islands should a peace treaty be signed. However, negotiations have since stalled while signing a peace treaty has been put on the shelf.
The statement comes a day before the sixth session of the Eastern Economic Forum kicks off in Russia's Vladivostok. The forum aimed at developing business ties and attracting national and international investors to Russia's Far East.
