Society

N. territories designated special zone by Russia

Aug 24 (the-japan-news.com) - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday signed a decision to designate four northwestern Pacific islands at the center of a longstanding territorial issue with Japan as a special economic zone.

The two nations are in talks on jointly carrying out economic activities on and around the Russian-held islands, which are collectively known as the northern territories in Japan.

While Tokyo hopes that such joint activities will be conducted under a special framework that will not undermine the two sides' respective legal positions for the islands, Russia's unilateral designation may run counter to Japan's stance, informed sources said.

At a vice-ministerial meeting in Moscow on Thursday, Japan and Russia agreed that they will aim to forge an accord on joint projects that will be launched early at a bilateral summit slated to be held in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok early next month. But the designation is expected to affect the outcome of the upcoming meeting, the sources said.

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