Japan Cannot Decide On Russia's Visa Offer Over Territorial Dispute Concerns - Reports

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th June, 2019) The Japanese government cannot yet make a decision on Russia's offer to introduce a visa-free regime between Russia's Far Eastern Sakhalin Region and Japan's northernmost Hokkaido island because Tokyo fears the affirmative answer would be perceived as if Japan recognized that the disputed Kuril Islands were a part of Russia which contradicts its official position, local media have reported on Saturday.

The Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported, citing several government sources, that the issue was allegedly planned to be addressed at the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, scheduled to be held in Osaka on June 29.

The reports insisted that Russia allegedly sought the agreement on the issue to me achieved at the Putin-Abe summit.

The outlet argued that Tokyo feared that should it agree to Moscow's offer, it might create a wrong impression that the sides have settled their territorial dispute.

Moreover, Japan has security concerns, particularly with regard to the movement of Russian nationals arriving in Japan and the possibility for Japanese criminals to flee to Russia.

In late May, Russian and Japanese defense and foreign ministers met in the so-called 2+2 format. During the meeting, Russian officials raised the issue of liberalizing visa requirements between the nations as part of their bilateral agreement to raise the annual number of exchanges between the countries to 400,000 by 2023.

The sides are, particularly, discussing the idea of establishing the visa-free regime between Sakhalin and Hokkaido as part of their joint economic activities on the Kurils, also referred to in Japan as the Northern Territories.

The existing territorial dispute has been preventing Russia and Japan from concluding the WWII peace treaty. The sides are currently engaged in talks on the agreement.