Japan-Russia Foreign Ministers' Meeting
Overview of Results
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January 14, 2005
On January 14, Minister for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura held a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation, in the Annex Building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on his visit to Russia from January 13 to15, 2005.
1. Achievements of the meeting
| (1) | With regard to the timing of President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to Japan, the foreign ministers confirmed that coordination would continue through diplomatic channels and agreed to direct officials at the working level to accelerate preparations on documents to be issued at the time of President Putin's visit. The results of the working level preparations will be checked once again by the two foreign ministers on the occasion of Foreign Minister Lavrov's visit to Japan, scheduled to take place in the first half of March. |
| (2) | The foreign ministers agreed that Prior to President Putin's visit, the Second Japan-Russia Eminent Persons' Council would be held in Tokyo on February 2, Minister of Industry and Energy Viktor Borisovich Khristenko would visit Japan to attend the Seventh Meeting of the Japan-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Issues at an appropriate date between the end of February and the beginning of March and Foreign Minister Lavrov would visit Japan in the first half of March. |
2. Japan-Russia relations
Foreign Minister Machimura stated that the year 2005 was an important year that marks the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and that he was seeking to make 2005 a special year in Japan-Russia relations. In response, Foreign Minister Lavrov said that he wanted to see Japan-Russia relations developed in a broad range of areas through implementation of the Japan-Russia Action Plan and negotiations on the issue of a peace treaty to be steadily continued.
3. Peace treaty issue
| (1) | Foreign Minister Machimura appreciated Foreign Minister Lavrov's statement to the Russian press concerning the Northern Territories issue made in November 2004, noting at the same time, Japan's position such as that (a) Japan would not accept as a final solution the transfer of only two islands of Habomai and Shikotan based on the 1956 Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration, (b) if a final resolution could have been reached by handing over only two islands, then a peace treaty would have been signed in 1956, and (c) since no agreement had been reached concerning the attribution of the islands of Kunashiri and Etorofu, a "peace treaty" was not concluded and , instead, the "Joint Declaration" was signed. |
| (2) | Foreign Minister Machimura noted although there were a gap between the two countries' positions concerning the Northern Territories issue, it is not in either's strategic interest of Japan and Russia that there was no peace treaty concluded to this date after 60 years since the end of the World war II and that relations between the two countries had not fully been normalized. Foreign Minister Machimura emphasized the importance of resolving the issue and of concluding a peace treaty. In response, Foreign Minister Lavrov reiterated the basic stance of the Russian side, but confirmed that the Russian side also believed the conclusion of a peace treaty through a solution of the territorial issue to be necessary. |
| (3) | Both Foreign Ministers confirmed that although a gap between two counties' position remain concerning the Northern Territories issue, they would continue to make efforts through serious discussions to bridge this gap, and negotiations on this issue would continue to be vigorously pursued towards the visit of President Putin to Japan. |
4. Other issues
| (1) | Counter-terrorism Both Foreign Ministers affirmed that in 2004 cooperation between Japan and Russia in the area of counter-terrorism had been elevated qualitatively. |
| (2) | Energy Both Foreign Ministers confirmed that energy was a strategic sector with a potential for significant development in Japan-Russia cooperation. |
| (3) | Cooperation for Denuclearization Both Foreign Ministers welcomed the fact that the first project of the "Star of Hope" Project to dismantle decommissioned nuclear submarines had been successfully completed in December 2004, and that on the previous day, January 13, 2005, it had been agreed in the meeting of the Committee on Cooperation for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons that cooperation would be newly initiated on the decommissioning of an additional five nuclear submarines. In this regard, Foreign Minister Machimura expressed Japan's concerns over the transportation route for the spent fuel across the Russian Far East discharged from the nuclear submarines decommissioned in Kamchatka Oblast, requesting improvements in the route. Foreign Minister Lavrov responded that Japan's concerns would be duly conveyed to the authorities concerned, by whom these Japan's concerns would be appropriately dealt with. |
| (4) | Fisheries Foreign Minister Machimura requested the Russian side to take appropriate measures to prevent the reoccurrence of cases where Japanese fishing fleet was prevented from putting to sea under circumstances in which Russia had a primal responsibility, thus suffering from significant economic losses. Foreign Minister Lavrov responded that he would seek to clarify the cause of such occurrences and make effort to prevent them happening again. |
| (5) | As for the issue of those Japanese nationals who were detained in Siberia, both Foreign Ministers agreed that such efforts on the basis of the treaty concluded in 1991 as collection of the remains should be continued steadily. |
5. International situation
| (1) | Cooperation in response to the earthquake off the island of Sumatra and the area of disaster reduction In relation to earthquake that struck off the island of Sumatra, both Foreign Ministers agreed on the importance of Japan and Russia cooperating in the area of disaster reduction. |
| (2) | North Korea Both Foreign Ministers noted the importance of the Six-Party Talks, agreeing that Japan and Russia would cooperate in calling on North Korea to speedily resume the Six-Party Talks process. Foreign Minister Machimura explained Japan-North Korea relations, including the abduction issue and requested for understanding and cooperation from the Russian side, to which Foreign Minister Lavrov pledged cooperation. |
| (3) | Cooperation in the framework of the United Nations Both Foreign Ministers agreed that they would strengthen their cooperation in the framework of the United Nations on international issues, based on the fact that Japan has become one of the non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. |
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