Japanese Premier Abe To Visit Russia and Work with Putin To Sign a Peace Treaty

FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

Japanese Premier Abe To Visit Russia and Work with Putin To Sign a Peace Treaty

Nov. 14, 2018 (EIRNS)—Japan’s Premier Shinzo Abe, following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Singapore today said he will be visiting Russia early next year and will work towards signing a peace treaty between the two countries that has been hampered by a long-standing territorial dispute. “I agreed with President Putin to accelerate negotiations on a peace treaty based on the 1956 joint declaration between Japan and the Soviet Union,” Abe told reporters, Kyodo news reported.

Abe also expressed a desire to put “an end” to the unresolved diplomatic issue that has prevented Japan and Russia from concluding a peace treaty: In the 1956 joint document, Moscow agreed to return two of the four disputed islands off Hokkaido to Tokyo once a peace treaty was signed. The declaration was intended to restore diplomatic ties by ending wartime hostilities, said Kyodo.

The Japanese leader told reporters he hopes Japan and Russia will solve their territorial dispute based on trust built between the two leaders. “We will solve the territorial issue and sign a peace treaty based on trust built with [President Vladimir Putin],” Abe said, TASS reported.