The foreign ministers of Russia and Japan in a Friday meeting agreed to work together to settle a longstanding territorial dispute that has – until now – prevented the two nations from signing the peace treaty that would formally end World War II hostilities between Tokyo and Moscow.
Departing Rome, following in-depth talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Japanese FM Taro Kono told reporters that the two nations were on the path to a bilateral treaty to formalize on paper a diplomatic norm that has existed for decades, according to a report by the Japan Times.
While avoiding particulars, Kono nonetheless pointed out that the leaders of two countries have recently agreed to accelerate negotiations, reestablishing the use of a 1956 joint declaration suggesting the return of Shikotan and the Habomai group of islets off Hokkaido to Japanese control.
The dispute focuses on the islands of Kunashiri, Etorofu and Shikotan, as well as the Habomai group, called in Japan the Northern Territories. Following Japan’s 1945 surrender, the former Soviet Union seized the maritime territories, referring to the archipelago as the Southern Kurils.