Japanese lawmakers will back efforts by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign a peace treaty between their nations, Ichiro Aisawa, the head of Japanese parliament's association for friendship between the two countries, said on Monday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th December, 2018) Japanese lawmakers will back efforts by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign a peace treaty between their nations, Ichiro Aisawa, the head of Japanese parliament's association for friendship between the two countries, said on Monday.Japan and Russia have been technically at war after failing to sign a peace treaty following the end of World War II. Putin and Abe agreed in Singapore on November 14 to advance the talks based on the 1956 Soviet-Japanese declaration, the only document recognized by both countries.
"The leaders of the countries share determination not to abandon this task... We, as parliamentarians who represent the people, will firmly support such intentions of the leaders," Aisawa said at a conference in Moscow.
The conference, entitled "The Role of Parliaments in Modern World," marks 25 years since the foundation of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament.
The Japanese legislator emphasized the role of the interparliamentary contacts in bilateral ties.
"In order to resolve this complicated issue between our two countries, it is necessary to enhance relationship of trust. In this sense there is no doubt that interparliamentary exchanges play an important role in bilateral relations," Aisawa said.
The Kuril Islands dispute has been souring bilateral relations for decades and serves as the main stumbling rock to signing a permanent peace treaty after the end of World War II. Both countries claim a group of four islands Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai referred to as the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan.
