Russian, Japanese Deputy Foreign Ministers To Discuss Peace Treaty On March 21 - Tokyo

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov will meet his Japanese counterpart, Takeo Mori, in Moscow on March 21 to discuss the nations' long-awaited peace treaty, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Monday

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th March, 2019) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov will meet his Japanese counterpart, Takeo Mori, in Moscow on March 21 to discuss the nations' long-awaited peace treaty, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

"On March 21, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov and Japanese Deputy Minister Takeo Mori will hold talks in Moscow related to the issue of signing a peace treaty," the statement says.

This will be the second meeting between Morgulov and Mori this month the two officials had previously met on March 5.

On the day following the meeting, Moscow will host the 10th round of security talks between Russia and Japan, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

"The Japanese side will be represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Mori and Director General for International Affairs of the Bureau of Defense Policy in the Ministry of Defense Hideo Suzuki, while the Russian side will be represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, as well as officials from the Russian foreign and defense ministries," the press release added.

Relations between Moscow and Tokyo have long been strained by the fact that the two nations never signed a peace treaty following the end of the World War II. The agreement was never reached due to a heated dispute over a group of islands Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai that Russia has sovereignty over. They are also claimed by Tokyo.

Last week, however, Tokyo lodged a protest to Moscow over Russia's military drills on the Kurils, the Japanese Foreign Ministry told Sputnik. The ministry stated that the military exercises were "incompatible with the position" of Japan and "unacceptable."