SINGAPORE -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin, meeting in Singapore on Wednesday night, agreed to speed up negotiations on a peace treaty based on the 1956 joint declaration that stipulates the return of two of the four northern territories islands off Hokkaido to Japan.
The Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration in October 1956 called for the Habomai islets and Shikotan Island to be handed over to Japan following the conclusion of a peace treaty between the two states.
The two leaders also agreed Wednesday that Abe would visit Russia as early as early next year for further talks with Putin.
Briefing the media on the meeting, Abe said, "Instead of passing onto the next generation the issue that has lingered for over 70 years since the end of the war, Mr. Putin and I completely share a strong will to absolutely bring it to a conclusion through the efforts of the two of us."
According to the Tass news agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the two leaders agreed to activate Russian-Japanese talks on a peace treaty on the basis of the 1956 declaration.
The declaration stipulates that both sides agree to "the actual transfer of [Habomai and Shikotan] to Japan to take place after the conclusion of a Peace Treaty." The agreement reached in Singapore can be seen as aiming to first secure the return of Habomai and Shikotan, without abandoning the premise that all four islands be returned to Japan.
Putin has expressed his stance of attaching importance to the joint declaration as the sole document ratified by both Japan and the former Soviet Union. In a meeting with then-Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in 2001, the Russian president referred to it as a starting point for Japan-Russian negotiations.
At an international forum in Vladivostok in September, Putin proposed concluding a peace treaty to Abe -- without any preconditions attached to it -- by the year-end. However, the prime minister rejected this suggestion because Japan intends to conclude a peace treaty after solving the issue of the attribution of the four islands. Even so, Abe believed Putin was willing to conclude a peace treaty.
Lasting for about 1-1/2 hours, the meeting on Wednesday represented their 23rd talks and the first one after Putin made the proposal of concluding a peace pact by the year-end. The first part of the meeting was attended by Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko and Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba, among others. The remaining 40 minutes were one-on-one talks between Putin and Abe, with only interpreters present.
January meeting possible
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has started arranging his schedule to visit Russia in January next year for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with a view to concluding a peace treaty addressing the northern territories issue, it has been learned.
Among plans under consideration is for the prime minister to visit Russia before or after an international conference that he plans to attend in Switzerland in late January. Abe intends to meet Putin at least three times before the House of Councillors election next summer to make progress in negotiations to first realize the return of the Habomai islets and Shikotan Island.
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