Tokyo Confirms Foreign Minister Motegi's Plans To Visit Russia By End Of Year

Tokyo Confirms Foreign Minister Motegi's Plans to Visit Russia by End of Year

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2019) The Japanese Foreign Ministry confirmed to Sputnik on Friday that newly-appointed Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi planned to visit Moscow by the end of the year.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said on Monday that Moscow expected Motegi's visit by the end of this year.

"In response to the invitation to visit Russia, made by the Russian side at meeting between Japanese and Russian foreign ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September, Mr. Motegi plans to visit Moscow by the end of the year if various circumstances permit," the ministry said.

Motegi was appointed as foreign minister on September 11.

He earlier served as economy minister for two years under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Motegi met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for the first time on the sidelines of the 74th UN General Assembly in late September. The two ministers discussed bilateral ties and signing of a peace treaty.

Russia and Japan have not signed a permanent peace treaty after the end of World War II mainly due to the dispute over a series of the Kuril Islands � referred to as the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan � which remains one of the main stumbling blocks in the peace talks.