New Edition of the Joint Compendium of Documents on the History of Territorial Issue between Japan and Russia
7. STATEMENT
by the Prime Minister of Japan
and the President of the Russian Federation
on the Issue of a Peace Treaty
(Provisional Translation)
1. The Prime Minister of Japan and the President of the Russian Federation had thorough negotiations on September 4 and 5 this year in Tokyo on the overall bilateral relationship, including the issue of a peace treaty, with the intention to establish a creative partnership between Japan and Russia consistent with their strategic and geopolitical interests.
2. Both sides confirmed that the following positive results have been achieved since the Japan-Russia Summit Meeting in Krasnoyarsk in 1997, when both sides agreed to make their utmost efforts to conclude a peace treaty by the year 2000 on the basis of the Tokyo Declaration.
- The Joint Committee on the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty at the level of Foreign Ministers was established.
- The subcommittee on border demarcation was established, and active negotiations have been held therein.
- The subcommittee on Joint Economic Activities was established and is actively working. "The Japan-Russia Cooperation Program on the Development of Joint Economic Activities in the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomai" (hereinafter referred to as "the Islands") was signed.
- The Agreement on some matters of cooperation in the field of fishing operations for marine living resources was singed and has been successfully implemented.
- The Agreement on the so-called free visits to the Islands by procedures, streamlined to the maximum extent possible, has been implemented.
- The scope of participants in mutual visits between the current residents of the Islands and residents of Japan, which had already been implemented in accordance with the 1991 agreement, has been expanded since 1998.
- The scope of humanitarian assistance that has been implemented in relation to the earthquake disaster in 1994 now includes those cases which require emergency assistance.
3. Both sides jointly confirmed that it was essential to continue their efforts to realize the Krasnoyarsk Agreement and to promote further strengthening of its positive results to the maximum extent possible.
4. Based upon all the agreements that have been reached up to now, including the Tokyo Declaration on Japan-Russia Relations in 1993 and the Moscow Declaration on Establishing a Creative Partnership between Japan and the Russian Federation in 1998, both sides agreed to continue negotiations to work out a peace treaty "through the solution of the issue of where the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomai belong".
With the intention to raise the efficiency of the negotiation process, both sides instructed their representatives of the Joint Committee on the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty to take the following measures.
- To develop new measures to further accelerate the works of the Joint Committee on the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty and the subcommittee on border demarcation,
- To take steps to prepare a new edition of the Joint Compendium of Documents on the History of Territorial Issue between Japan and Russia, especially by inclouding the materials related to the period after 1993,
- To activate efforts to explain to each nation the importance of the conclusion of a peace treaty.
5. President Vladimir V. Putin of the Russian Federation invited Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori of Japan to make an official visit to the Russian Federation, with a view to promoting further development of bilateral relations in various fields and the positive advancement of the peace treaty negotiations. Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori of Japan accepted the invitation with appreciation. The time of the visit will be agreed through the diplomatic channels.
Both sides recognized that it would be beneficial to take advantage of every possible opportunity and to continue an active dialogue.
6. The negotiations were conducted in an atmosphere of honestry, trustworthiness and mutual respect.
5 September 2000, Tokyo
| Prime Minister of Japan | Yoshiro MORI | |
| President of the Russian Federation | V.V. PUTIN |
Back to Index
