Japan-Russia Foreign Ministers' Meeting
on the Occasion of Iraq International Conference
Overview of Results
June 23, 2005
Around 18:40 local time on June 22 (1:40 on June 23, Japan time), Minister for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura, who was on his visit to Belgium to attend Iraq International Conference, held a meeting for approximately 20 minutes with his Russian counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation at the Representative Office of Russia to the EU in Brussels. The summary of the meeting is as follows.
1. Political agenda
| (1) | With regard to the schedule of the visit to Japan by President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, the two ministers reconfirmed that the visit will definitely be realized either right before or after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit Meeting scheduled for November. They also reaffirmed that the specific dates will be determined and announced in the near future. |
| (2) | The two ministers shared the view to speed up their preparations for President Putin's visit to Japan, given that the prospective timing of the visit has now been set. |
| (3) | In connection with the preparations for President Putin's visit to Japan, Foreign Minister Lavrov invited Foreign Minister Machimura to visit Russia at his convenience. Foreign Minister Machimura responded that he would like to consider this. |
| (4) | Furthermore, the two ministers exchanged opinions on the possibility for a Japan-Russia Summit Meeting on the occasion of the upcoming G8 Summit Meeting in Gleneagles. |
2. The Peace Treaty issue, etc.
As it was a short meeting this time, the two ministers did not discuss in detail the peace treaty issue and other specific areas of cooperation. However, they shared the view to continue their serious discussions on the peace treaty issue.
3. Cooperation under the G8 Framework
The two ministers shared the view for Japan and Russia to closely cooperate under the G8 framework as well. In connection to this, Foreign Minister Machimura expressed his wish for Russia's success at assuming the presidency of the G8 for its first time next year. Foreign Minister Lavrov responded by sharing his expectation that the G8 Ministerial Meeting to be held in London will serve as a good preparatory meeting for the G8 Summit Meeting to be held in Gleneagles. Foreign Minister Lavrov expressed his hope that the presidency of the G8 would be smoothly handed over next year to Russia from the UK which is holding the presidency this year.
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