Japan and Russia hold talks on security, territorial dispute

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Russia in late April for a summit with President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday.

Abe has pledged to resolve a decades-old territorial dispute with Russia over a string of western Pacific islands, seized by Soviet troops at the end of World War II, in the hope of building better ties to counter a rising China.
The feud has precluded a formal peace treaty between the two countries.
Talking to reporters after a security meeting among foreign and defense ministers from Japan and Russia, Kishida also said the two sides had agreed to demand that North Korea, which has carried out a series of nuclear and missile tests in defiance of UN sanctions, halt such actions.
“We had in-depth talks today over North Korea’s nuclear and missile issues and agreed to demand strongly that North Korea refrain from further provocations and observe UN Security Council resolutions,” Kishida said.
North Korea’s official media said on Sunday the reclusive state had tested a new high-thrust engine, which an analyst said was a dangerous step toward the North’s goal of developing a rocket that could hit the US.
The foreign and defense ministers from Japan and Russia met in Tokyo, with both sides expressing hope that discussions on joint development of islands claimed by both countries might help them move closer to resolving the territorial dispute preventing them from forging a peace treaty.
The talks are the first “two-plus-two” meeting since Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
The one-day meeting was largely focusing on regional security, especially how best to deal with North Korea’s launches of missiles and its nuclear program.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said before the talks that its envoys would raise the issue of a plan by the US and its ally South Korea to deploy a state-of-the-art missile defense system known as THAAD, which has antagonized China and Russia.
Joint efforts in fighting terrorism and drug trafficking were also on the agenda.
Kishida was meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, while Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada sat down for talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The four ministers will also hold joint talks on international and bilateral issues.
Japan and Russia last held “two-plus-two” talks in November 2013. Meetings were shelved after that due to the crisis in Ukraine, as Japan joined sanctions against Moscow.
The Tokyo talks were not expected to lead to a breakthrough on conflicting claims to islands north of Hokkaido — Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islets — that came under Russian control after Japan’s defeat in World War II.
But the countries see more room for agreement on joint development of fisheries, tourism and other areas that might help bridge the gap.
Kishida said he intended to work in a “speedy manner” to move closer toward reaching a peace treaty, especially making progress on joint economic development.

Lavrov agreed, saying at the outset of the talks that “I believe this joint development will become an important step to create an appropriate environment for resolving a peace treaty.”
Earlier, a Japanese foreign ministry official said Tokyo would raise concerns over Russia’s instalment of surface-to-ship missiles on Etorofu and other military activity elsewhere on the disputed islands, and seek an explanation from Moscow. It does not plan to push harder than that, said the official.
Japanese officials also said the talks would include work on planning Abe’s visit to Moscow.
Logistics of visits by Japanese former residents of the disputed islands will also be addressed, they said.