Russia, Japan To Create Work Group On Legal Aspects Of Joint Activity On Kurils - Ministry

Russia, Japan to Create Work Group on Legal Aspects of Joint Activity on Kurils - Ministry

Russia and Japan have agreed to establish a working group that will focus on the legal aspects of joint economic activity on the Southern Kuril Islands, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monda

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2019) Russia and Japan have agreed to establish a working group that will focus on the legal aspects of joint economic activity on the Southern Kuril Islands, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

The decision came after the deputy foreign ministers of the two states, Russia's Igor Morgulov and Japan's Takeo Mori, held the fifth round of bilateral consultations on joint economic activity on the islands.

"In order to develop legal aspects of joint economic activities, the parties agreed to create a relevant working group," the ministry said in its statement.

The negotiators also discussed the implementation of joint projects related to aquaculture, greenhouses, package tours, wind power and waste processing.

In addition, the two officials talked about establishing free movement between the islands and the Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido, the ministry added.

The dates for the next round of consultations will be agreed through diplomatic channels.

The two states agreed to discuss the possibility of joint economic ventures on the contested islands during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Japan in December 2016. The Japanese Foreign Ministry established a council to oversee such activities in February 2017. In the next two years, representatives of the Japanese government and business circles traveled to the Southern Kurils to study the prospects for developing projects in such fields as aquaculture, greenhouse farming, tourism, wind power and recycling.

Russian-Japanese relations have long been complicated by the fact that the two nations have never signed a permanent WWII peace treaty. The main issue holding the two countries back is their dispute over a group of four Kuril islands � Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai. Russia has sovereignty over these islets, but they are also claimed by Japan.