Unic Press UK: Russian Federation and Japan are considering new projects of joint economic activities on the Kuril Islands, though the Islands strictly belong to Russia, the TASS news agency reports.
Speaking in Moscow, following the first round of talks with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said:
“We pointed out to our Japanese friends that the sovereignty over the islands was non-negotiable. This is Russia’s territory. I clarified Russia’s position on the results of World War II in detail. I pointed out that apart from the Treaty of San Francisco, some other documents and the [Soviet-Japanese] Declaration of 1956, which draws a final line under World War II and should be read in conjunction with the Treaty of San Francisco, there is also an important document such as the United Nations Charter. Its Article 107 recognizes the results of World War II as they were outlined by the allies. We reiterated it to our Japanese colleagues and heard no objections. We have agreed that our corresponding ministries will work out more daring projects to see visible results of our joint economic activities.”
Yesterday’s meeting could be traced to talks in November/December 2018 between the Russian President, Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. The two leaders had agreed that further talks on a peace treaty should hold between the two countries’ top diplomats.
