TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th December, 2018) The Japanese government is working to arrange the visit of Foreign Minister Taro Kono to Russia in December, local media reported.
Kono planned to hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his trip to Russia, the Nikkei newspaper reported.
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that Moscow and Tokyo should engage in talks on the peace treaty between the two nations without any preconditions. After his summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Singapore, Putin said that the Japanese leader expressed readiness to discuss the peace accord on the basis of the 1956 Soviet-Japanese declaration.
The declaration stipulates, among other things, that Japan will regain control over Habomai islets and Shikotan in the Kuril Islands archipelago following the conclusion of the peace treaty with Russia.
Last week, the two leaders met once against on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina. After the talks, Putin announced that the peace negotiations would be led by the two leaders' special representatives, while the process would be coordinated by the countries' foreign ministers.
