SINGAPORE, November 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's foreign minister said Sunday he hopes for headway during talks with his Japanese counterpart in Moscow.
"I hope we will make progress during the upcoming contacts, which envision a visit to Russia by Japanese Foreign Minister Mr. [Katsuya] Okada," Sergei Lavrov told journalists.
A deputy Russian foreign minister, Alexei Borodavkin, proposed during talks with his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo in October that Okada visit Russia by the end of the year.
Lavrov said earlier Sunday that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who held a meeting on Sunday at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Singapore, have agreed to decide on signing a peace treaty without links to other issues.
"In previous years, the predecessors of Mr. Hatoyama tried to link progress in this or that area, first of all in the economy, to progress they wanted to see on the issue of a peace treaty. The new government does not pursue such linkage in its policy," Lavrov said.
Tokyo's continued claim over four South Kuril islands (Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Habomai) has so far prevented Russia and Japan from signing a formal peace treaty to end World War II hostilities.
