Japan denies that they proposed allowing Russia to manage the Kuril Islands
The Japanese Foreign Ministry denied information that Tokyo intended to propose that Moscow and Tokyo manage the four Islands of Kuril Ridge together. "We deny the report of the newspaper Nikkei that Japan and Russia are discussing the joint management of the northern territories,” stated the representative of Japanese Foreign Minister Yasuhisa Kawamura, Reuters reported on Monday, October 17th.
"A fundamental position of Japan is that Japan will sign a peace agreement with Russia on the issue of possession of the four Islands; that position has not been changed,” Kawamura said.
Earlier, the newspaper Nikkei citing sources in Japanese and Russian government reported that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe will propose to Vladimir Putin joint management of the disputed islands of the Kuril ridge.