Kuril Islands Should Become Co-Residence Zone for Japanese, Russians - Abe

The Kuril islands should become the zone of cohabitation of Russians and the Japanese, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) – Abe said he discussed with Putin "how to create a zone of co-residence, joint prosperity on these islands."

"I would like to ensure that those who used to live on the islands and those who live on the islands now are able on the basis of trust to develop ties and cooperation and creation of conditions where they could cohabitate, work and think about the future of these islands," Abe told a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Japanese Prime Minister also said he and Putin agreed to create a special regime to establish joint economic actions.

"This joint economic activity will be carried out not at the sides’ expense on the peace treaty issue," Abe said.

Kuril islands

© Sputnik / Sergey Krivosheyev

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