Japan- Russia Summit Telephone Conversation

March 14, 2011
Japanese

On Monday, March14, from 17:30 for about 20 minutes, Prime Minister Naoto Kan held a telephone conversation with Dr. Dmitry Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation.
At the outset, President Medvedev made the following remarks.

(1) With regard to the earthquake and Tsunami occurred in Japan, I would like to express my condolences and deepest sympathy, as well as our sense of solidarity with your country.

(2) I pray that Japan will recover from the disaster as quickly as possible. The government of Russia is ready to provide assistance and cooperation to the utmost extent such as humanitarian support and energy supply.
Prime Minister Kan made the following remarks.

(1) I am profoundly grateful for the President’s kind words and the support from Russia. I also thank the people of Russia who placed flowers for the victims in front of the Japanese Embassy in Moscow.

(2) A rescue team of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of natural Disasters arrived in Japan this afternoon. We are encouraged by the dispatch of the experts, who are inured to emergencies.

(3) With regard to the nuclear power plant, at this point, it seems that there is no damage on the reactor container. We will continue to make every effort to ensure security.

(4) With regard to your offer of cooperation on energy supply, we would like to consult with Russia if necessary.
The two leaders agreed that both countries would advance bilateral dialogue and cooperation including on the occasion of the G8 Summit to be held in this May.

(*This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

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