The Japanese and Russian governments will likely start full-fledged discussions about a visa waiver program for short-term travel between Hokkaido and Russia's Sakhalin, hoping to reach an agreement during a June bilateral summit meeting.
They intend to move forward with peace treaty talks that have been stalled for years, by working on early realization of joint economic activities in the northern territories, according to Japanese government sources.
Should joint economic activities be realized in the northern territories, individuals related to Japanese and Russian companies are to visit the islands.
Both Japan and Russia have contested the sovereignty of the northern territories, and thus the creation of a "special system" over the movement of people has become an issue for both countries.
Moscow -- which claims the northern territories are part of Sakhalin -- has asked Japanese citizens to obtain Russian visas to visit the northern territories in principle, except in cases of a "visa-free exchange" that allows former islanders to visit graves and others in the territories.
The Japanese government, for its part, says a framework should be created that allows Japanese citizens who are involved in the joint economic activities to visit the northern islands without passports or visas.
Russia, however, has expressed a negative stance toward Japan's proposal.
Meanwhile, the Russian government has proposed introducing short-term visa-free travel between Hokkaido and Sakhalin for sightseeing, business and other purposes in the hope of further expansion of exchanges with Japan.
The Japanese government did not respond to the proposal, as the nature of the negotiation on joint economic cooperation is separate from the talks on short-term visas, the sources said.
However, Japan changed its attitude and showed a positive stance over the short-term visa negotiations as it concluded they could be a chance to advance talks to create the "special system," they said.
Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Mori and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov are expected to discuss the visa waiver issue in a meeting slated for Monday, according to the sources.
In December 2016, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to start talks on joint economic activities. In September 2017, both sides agreed to designate five candidate areas for the projects such as breeding and farming of marine products and greenhouse cultivation.
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