OREANDA-NEWS. Japan and Russia agreed that Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will make his first visit since taking office in Russia in mid-December. This was stated on Friday at a briefing for journalists by the official representative of the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

"The ministers agreed that circumstances permit, the Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi will visit Russia in mid-December to consult on a peace treaty and other bilateral issues", he said following a meeting in Motoya with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

During the negotiations, according to the Japanese agency, the parties discussed the organization of joint economic activities in the southern part of the Kuril Islands, as well as trips of former Japanese residents there. In addition, Motegi called for the further development of economic relations with the Russian Federation within the framework of the eight-point economic plan proposed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Toshimitsu Motegi became Japanese Foreign Minister in September this year as a result of a reshuffle in the government. This is his second meeting with Lavrov.