Japan and Russia are considering setting up a high-level consultative framework to speed up talks toward concluding a bilateral postwar peace treaty, government sources said Wednesday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin are likely to meet on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit later this week in Buenos Aires to discuss a long-standing territorial dispute that has prevented the two countries from signing a treaty and agree on the launch of the framework, according to the sources within the Japanese government.
Japan's national security adviser Shotaro Yachi and Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba will likely join the framework, the sources said, adding among the names floated to represent the Russian side are Putin's foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian security council, and Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov.