Unauthorized Rally Held Near Japanese Embassy In Moscow Amid Putin-Abe Talks - Authorities

An unauthorized rally was held on Tuesday near the Japanese Embassy in Moscow as the leaders of Russia and Japan held talks on a peace treaty between their two countries, Vladimir Chernikov, the head of the Moscow Department of Regional Security and Anti-Corruption Activities, told Sputnik on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2019) An unauthorized rally was held on Tuesday near the Japanese Embassy in Moscow as the leaders of Russia and Japan held talks on a peace treaty between their two countries, Vladimir Chernikov, the head of the Moscow Department of Regional Security and Anti-Corruption Activities, told Sputnik on Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held talks in Moscow on Tuesday to address the peace treaty issue, the resolution of which has been hampered for decades due to Tokyo's claims to some of the Southern Kuril islands. The activists participating in the rally called for the preservation of Russian territorial integrity over concerns that the resolution of the dispute might imply Russia handing over some of the islands it had under its jurisdiction to Tokyo.

"The rally is unauthorized. We have warned people against standing with posters," Chernikov said.

Russian lawmaker Aleksei Kornienko, in turn, told Sputnik that about 15-20 people, including himself and his aide, had been detained during the rally.

On Sunday, a similar, authorized rally took place at Suvorovskaya Square in Moscow ahead of Abe's visit.

The Southern Kuril Islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories, are at the heart of a territorial dispute between Russia and Japan, with the latter laying claim to the Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and the Habomai islets. This dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a post-WWII peace treaty.

During talks with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono, on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that the sides had confirmed their willingness to work on the basis of the 1956 declaration, "which means, first of all, the inalterability of the very first step Japan's recognition of the World War II outcome in full, including Russia's sovereignty over all the islands of the South Kuril ridge."

In 1956, Moscow and Tokyo signed a Joint Declaration that provided for the restoration of bilateral relations after the war and stipulated that Japan and the Soviet Union would continue to make efforts toward signing a permanent peace treaty and settling the island dispute. The Soviet Union also pledged to consider handing over two out four contested islands Habomai and Shikotan to Japan.