Foreign ministers of Japan, Russia discuss accelerating talks on peace treaty

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov held a meeting in Rome on Friday and discussed speeding up talks on a peace treaty in accordance with the argeement reached by the leaders of the two countries earlier in Singapore, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

"We discussed with Lavrov the results of negotiations at the highest level in Singapore, in particular the issue of signing a peace treaty. We confirmed that we will expand the discussion at the level of foreign ministers, relying on the agreement between our leaders to accelerate talks on the peace treaty on the basis of the 1956 declaration," Kono told Italian reporters in an interview cited by the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

At a meeting on November 14 in Singapore, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to intensify the peace treaty talks on the basis on the 1956 declaration.

Since the mid-20th century, Russia and Japan have been negotiating a peace treaty after World War II. The main stumbling block is the issue of the ownership of the southern Kuril Islands. After the end of World War II, all Kuril Islands were incorporated into the Soviet Union. However, Japan challenged the ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan islands and a number of uninhibited islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge called the Habomai Islands in Japan.

In 1956, the Soviet Union and Japan signed a joint declaration on ceasing the state of war. The two countries resumed diplomatic and other relations, however no peace treaty has been signed. The Soviet Union committed to paper in the declaration its readiness to hand over Shikotan, Habomai and a number of uninhibited small islands to Japan as a gesture of good will after the peace treaty is ultimately signed.