Putin and Abe Resume Dialogue on Peace Agreement and the Kurils

Moscow, Jan 22 (Prensa Latina) Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are resuming talks on the possible signing of a peace agreement and the thorny issue of the southern Kuril Islands.

In addition to these main issues, both leaders will address the situation and prospects for the development of bilateral cooperation in the political, economic-commercial and humanitarian spheres, says the Kremlin press service.

Putin and Abe, who makes a working visit to this nation, also address current issues on the regional and international agenda, the same source points out.

According to presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov, the talks are held, first in a private format and then at the level of delegations, to then offer a statement to the press.

Upon his arrival yesterday in Moscow, Abe said that during the twenty-ninth meeting with Putin he will try as far as possible to advance negotiations for the signing of a peace settlement.

According to the Mainichi Shinmbun newspaper, the Japanese head of government plans to make another trip to this capital at the end of March, before Putin's visit to Tokyo, in June, when another summit of the Group of 20 will be held there.

Despite the differences, both parties maintain the purpose of normalizing bilateral relations, which passes through the signing of the agreement, said Ushkaov.

The talks should create a total atmosphere of mutual trust and association, he estimated, when referring to the negotiations that take place, on the basis of the stipulations of the declaration of October 19, 1956.

Japan must recognize, as the aforementioned declaration requires, all the results of World War II, including the passage to Russian sovereignty of the southern Kuril Islands. It is our land and no one is willing to give it to someone, he said.

For his part, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, said that the solution to the peace agreement could be extended for a considerable time, because it is impossible to do so immediately, although Moscow will endeavor to reduce that time, he said.

The Japanese agency Kyodo speculated that Abe travels to Moscow with a proposal for the return of Shikotan Island and a group of small uninhabited islands, which in Japan are called Habomai.

But Peskov clarified that nobody proposed anything of that officially. Such speculations in no way help the negotiations, which take into account the national interests of both parties. No one here is going to give them up, he said.

'There is no variant yet for the signing of the peace agreement,' stressed Peskov.