Russia, Japan exchange ideas on economic activity in South Kuril Islands - Lavrov

MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. Russia and Japan agreed to work together on counter proposals on joint economic activities in the South Kuril Islands, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following Russian-Japanese two-plus-two talks on Monday. "We have given specific projects for joint economic activities to our Japanese partners. And in return also received ideas and agreed that we will promptly work on these proposals," he said. The Russian Foreign Minister drew attention to the fact that under the instructions of the presidents the parties also "take measures to facilitate and simplify the procedure for visiting the South Kuril Islands by Japanese citizens who lived on these islands before." "We have also discussed further simplifying communication between the citizens of Japan and the Russian Federation in general, including the possibility of a visa-free regime between the Sakhalin region and the Hokkaido Prefecture," Lavrov said. Read more