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The Prime Minister in Action
Japan-Russia Summit Meeting and Other Events: First Day
December 15, 2016
Photograph of the leaders shaking hands (1)
Photograph of Prime Minister Abe and Mrs. Abe welcoming President Putin of Russia (1)
Photograph of Prime Minister Abe and Mrs. Abe welcoming President Putin of Russia (2)
Photograph of the leaders shaking hands (2)
Photograph of the Japan-Russia Summit Meeting (1)
Photograph of the Japan-Russia Summit Meeting (2)
Photograph of the Prime Minister holding a press conference
[Provisional Translation]
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted a summit meeting and other events with H.E. Mr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation, in Nagato City, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Both leaders held a summit meeting, which was followed by a press occasion by Prime Minister Abe. Next, both leaders had a working dinner.
In the press occasion, the Prime Minister said the following,
"I had an approximately three hour long meeting with President Putin.
The location was my hometown, and with the warm welcome extended by the local people, the meeting took place in a very positive atmosphere.
After this, we will hold further meetings mainly about our economic relations. During the meeting with a small number of participants, we discussed bilateral and global issues, the importance of Russia playing a constructive role in addressing those global issues, and that Japan and Russia working together can resolve various issues.
The one-on-one meeting between President Putin and me lasted for about 95 minutes. Our discussion focused mainly on the peace treaty issue.
Based on our previous discussions held in Sochi, Vladivostok, and Lima, today, we were able to hold frank and very in-depth discussions on the issue of former island residents freely visiting their old hometowns, joint economic activities under a special arrangement between Japan and Russia on the four islands of the Northern Territories, and the peace treaty issue. In the private meeting, I gave him letters that I received from the former islanders when I met them a few days ago. President Putin read a letter, which was written in Russian, on the spot. With the average age of the former islanders being 81 years old, I approached the discussion taking firmly to heart the former islanders’ feeling that there is very little time left.
Discussions will further continue later today, and the venue will be moved to Tokyo tomorrow for further discussions. We will report the results of our meetings during a press conference tomorrow with both of us present. "
