Japanese FM Confirms Plans to Meet Lavrov on Sidelines of G20 Summit

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday confirmed the reports about his plans to hold a meeting with Russian Foreign Minsiter Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 ministerial meeting in Germany's Bonn.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Japanese media reported that Japanese authorities were considering the possibility to organize a meeting between Lavrov and Kishida on the sidelines of the meeting of G20 foreign ministers scheduled for February 16-17.

"I want to discuss the issues of bilateral relations [with Lavrov] in detail, and first of all the issue of signing a peace treaty, as well as the urgent issues of the international agenda," Kishida said, as quoted by the Japanese Kyodo news agency.

Moscow and Tokyo have not signed a peace treaty after World War II, when Southern Kuril Islands become part of the Soviet territory. At the same time Japan disputes the territorial belonging of the Kurils, which it calls the Northern Territories.

Japan lays claim to Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan islands and the Habomai group of islets.

The sides have already made a number of steps to normalize relations. In December 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Japan to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the two leaders agreed to start developing economic cooperation in the disputed area.