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Interview with Japanese Foreign Minister
Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura granted ITAR-TASS Japanese correspondent Vasily Golovin an interview specially for Kommersant. Here are excerpts from that interview:
It's been five years since Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese prime minister at the time Junichiro Koizumi adopted an action plan to end the stagnation in relations between the two countries. How do you evaluate that program?
Our cooperation has progressed in a board circle of areas, from political dialog, trade and economics to defense contacts and security, in cooperation in international problems and in cultural ties. In the four years since 2003, bilateral trade has increased by 3.6 times to over $20 billion. But there has been no progress in developing a peace agreement. At my upcoming meeting with the foreign minister, I would like to speak with Mr. Lavrov about how we can provide for specific progress forward toward a final solution of the territorial problem.
The pace of broadening bilateral contacts, especially in the economic sphere is impressive. How do you see the future of Russian-Japanese ties?
This year will be especially important for our relations. The G8 summit will take place on Hokkaido Island and the new president of Russia will visit Japan. That will be a good chance to raise Japanese-Russian relations to a new, higher level. Last year, as a supplement to the bilateral action plan, we put forward an “initiative for strengthening cooperation in the Far East and Eastern Siberia,” in response to Russian desires to develop those areas and integrate them into the Asia-Pacific region. Our suggestions were approved by President Putin. Under the new initiative and based on common strategic interests, we would like to build relations with our important neighboring country Russia that will contribute to the stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region through the development of mutual cooperation in energy, transportation, communications, ecology and other areas.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 14, 2008
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