Moscow to Host Senior-Level Russia-Japan Talks Next Week – Japanese FM

Russia and Japan will hold senior-level talks in Moscow on October 13, ahead of the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Japan, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said.

TOKYO (Sputnik) – "The dialogue will focus on global issues the two sides have strategic interests in, such as the North Korean and Syrian issues. At the same time, they will also discuss bilateral issues," Kishida told reporters on Friday, as quoted by Kyodo.

The October 13 meeting will be held between Japan’s Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov.

Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko, who also doubles as Japan’s Russia economy cooperation minister, is expected to visit Moscow in November. The meeting will come ahead of Putin’s planned December visit to Japan.

Putin met with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on September 2-3, discussing the territorial dispute between the two countries that has cast a shadow on bilateral relations.

Japan and Russia never signed a permanent peace treaty after World War II due to a disagreement over four islands, which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan the Northern Territories. The disputed islands, located in the Sea of Okhotsk, were claimed by Soviet forces at the end of the war.