Japan hopes to resume talks over island dispute with Russia

Tokyo hopes to resume talks over its territorial dispute with Moscow, the Japanese embassy in Russia said Monday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expects to restart discussions on the Northern Territories, which Russia calls the South Kuril Islands, during his upcoming visit to Russia later this month, the embassy said in a report on its website.

During a Monday meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, the Japanese side stressed the importance of reaching an agreement on the resumption of talks over the disputed islands during Abe's visit, said the diplomatic mission.

Tokyo expects to build personal trust-based relations between its prime minister and the Russian president, the embassy said, noting that cooperation in security and economic spheres between the two countries serves their national interests.

In February, during a meeting with Abe's special envoy Yoshiro Mori, Putin said he was expecting the Japanese prime minister's visit to Moscow. Abe's visit will be the first trip by a Japanese prime minister to Russia in 10 years.

The long-standing dispute over the islands has prevented the two countries from concluding a peace treaty since the end of World War II.

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