The foreign ministers of Japan and Russia agreed Friday to cooperate closely toward progress in talks to settle a territorial row that has blocked the sign
ROME – The foreign ministers of Japan and Russia agreed Friday to cooperate closely toward progress in talks to settle a territorial row that has blocked the signing of a peace treaty to formally end the countries’ World War II hostilities.
After their meeting in Rome, Taro Kono told reporters he had “in-depth” discussions with Sergey Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, on the path to concluding a bilateral peace treaty.
But Kono declined to comment on the substance of the talks, including whether any progress has been made on the territorial dispute.
The two ministers met as the decades-old row appears to be taking a new turn, with the two countries’ leaders agreeing recently to accelerate negotiations based on a 1956 joint declaration that envisions the return to Japanese control of Shikotan and the Habomai group of islets off Hokkaido.
