Russian Foreign Ministry Sees Putin's Visit to Japan as 'Breakthrough'

A visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Japan in mid-December can be called a breakthrough which created a powerful momentum for the development of Moscow-Tokyo relations, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — During Putin's visit, Russia and Japan agreed to step up economic cooperation on the disputed Kuril Islands which have been a sticking point in peace treaty talks. Japan claims the Russian territory, gained after World War II, to be its own and has made its return a condition for signing the treaty.

"I think [Putin's] visit can be characterized as a breakthrough. We see a powerful boost that was given to the development of Russia-Japan relations in all directions of bilateral ties – economic, political and humanitarian cooperation on the international arena," Morgulov said during a session of the Consulting Committee on the promotion of Russian-Japanese inter-parliamentary and inter-regional cooperation.

The deputy foreign minister added that the visit's results were unprecedented in terms of the amount of signed documents – 12 interstate documents and 68 commercial projects were signed and approved.

Putin visited Japan on December 15-16. Major topics for discussions were lying in the fields of economics, trade, culture and perspectives for reaching a peace agreement.

Moscow and Tokyo never signed a permanent peace treaty after the World War II due to a disagreement over the group of islands, which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan the Northern Territories, encompassing Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai.