North and South Korea were on the agenda in Moscow at a meeting of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the vice president of Japan’s ruling
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North and South Korea were on the agenda in Moscow at a meeting of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the vice president of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Lavrov said he was keen to get Masahiko Kōmura’s view on the problems on the peninsula, in light of Pyongyang’s claims of recent nuclear tests.
Both Moscow and Tokyo, are interested in ensuring stability in the region, Lavrov announced, and denounced South Korean ally the US for its military presence in the region.
“It’s necessary to develop Russian-Japanese relations in all fields of our bilateral relations and in the international arena,” Lavrov said. “We are ready to do this. We hope our Japanese friends are open to a relationship with no artificial constraints in all fields, too.”
Kuril islands
The meeting came on the same day Russia’s Defence Ministry announced plans to complete infrastructure development in the disputed Kuril islands.
Annexed by Russia after the end of the Second World War, the four islands are claimed by Japan.
The 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty states Japan must give up all claims to the Kurils, however, it did not recognise the then-Soviet Union’s sovereignty, either.