Media FAQ

26 October, 2007

Russian Foreign Minister's Visit to Japan

Q: What was discussed between Mr. Masahiko Koumura, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and Mr. Sergey Lavrov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on 23 October, and what did they accomplish?

With regard to the bilateral political dialogue, the two ministers agreed that Deputy Prime Minister Naryshkin, will visit Japan in November, and that the 3rd round of Strategic Dialogue will be held in Moscow on December.
Regarding the issue of the Northern Territories, Foreign Minister Lavrov quoting President Putin's instruction that "no delay should be coming from the Russian side", emphasized that Russia had no intention to freeze the process of settlement. The ministers discussed the issue approximately for an hour and confirmed that they would seriously examine a mutually acceptable solution with a view to reaching a final settlement on this issue.
With regard to bilateral cooperation in the Far East Russia and Eastern Siberia, the two ministers also confirmed that Japan and Russia would promote bilateral cooperation in this region through meetings of the Regional Exchange sub-committee of the Japan-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Affairs.
Both sides agreed to facilitate the negotiations on the agreements in the field of nuclear energy, facilitating issuance of visas and promotion of youth exchange.
Among others, the two ministers also held a frank exchange of views on such issues as North Korea, Iran's nuclear development, and the fight against terrorism.

Q: What exactly does Japan want to do as the Japan-Russia cooperation in the Far East Russia and Eastern Siberia.

A: Strategic stability and sustainable development of this region are primarily important for the future of all the countries in the region including Japan.

In this regard, at the bilateral meeting between the then Prime Minister Abe and President Putin on the occasion of G8 summit in June this year, Japan proposed to consider the promotion of mutually beneficial cooperation in such fields as energy, transportation, information and communication in both the private and public sectors. This proposal is known as the "Initiative for the Strengthening Japan-Russia cooperation in the Far East Russia and Eastern Siberia." At the Japan-Russia summit meeting on the occasion of APEC summit in September, President Putin mentioned that he supported this initiative. To follow up this Initiative, the first meeting of the Regional Exchange sub-committee of the Japan-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Affairs took place in Vladivostock on 26 October.

The details of this initiative are available on the following MOFA web site.
http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/europe/russia/initiative0706.html

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