Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the signature of a peace treaty between his country and Japan was a precondition for settling territorial disputes.
Speaking at a press conference in Moscow with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on December 3, Lavrov added that, although the two countries have “common positions” on the topic of a peace treaty, it would be a mistake to have “excessively high expectations” it will be signed soon.
For his part, Kishida said the top priority was to resolve the disagreements about disputed islands on the basis of a framework reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2013.
The two countries never signed a formal peace treaty after the end of World War II.
Lavrov added that preparations for Putin to visit Japan later this month were nearly completed and that he expected the visit to provide “new impetus to the development of the entire complex of bilateral relations.”
