Abe and Putin to hold talks Thursday in Japan

TOKYO – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday at a hot spring in Nagato, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.

In the quiet environment of a ryokan inn, Abe hopes to have a candid exchange of views on the issue of the northern territories, and set a course for the conclusion of a peace treaty between the two nations.

On Friday, the meetings are to move to the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo, where they will focus on economic cooperation.

Putin’s presidential plane is scheduled to land at an airport in Yamaguchi Prefecture on Thursday afternoon.

The territorial issue will be the main focus of the meeting in Nagato.

Other attendees are to include Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Hiroshige Seko, minister for economic cooperation with Russia.

From the Russian side, officials including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are expected to attend.

It is thought that Abe and Putin will also have time to speak privately, with only interpreters attending. A dinner party is planned for that evening.

The main focus of the summit meeting is whether the two sides can agree on a pathway to territorial return and on “joint economic activities” on the four islands of the northern territories.

In an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun and Nippon TV, Putin has stressed that any such activities would have to be carried out under Russian sovereignty.

Since the Japanese government is seeking a framework that would not infringe on its sovereignty, there appears to be a wide gulf between the two sides.

The leaders are expected to agree on expanding “visa-free exchanges” to include people engaged in economic activities, and to essentially allow former residents of the islands to travel there freely.

A lunch meeting scheduled for Friday at the Prime Minister’s Office is to focus on economic cooperation.