Russia, Japan to look at new joint projects on Kuril Islands - Lavrov

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. Russia and Japan have agreed to look at new projects of joint economic activities on the Kuril Islands, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday after talks with his visiting Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono. "We have agreed that our corresponding ministries will work out more daring projects to see visible results of our joint economic activities," he said. In his words, the two countries can do much more than they are doing now in the economic sphere, especially in the investment sector. "The agreement on the organization of joint economic activities on the South Kuril Islands that was reached between the Russian president and the Japanese prime minister a couple of years ago is now being implemented but its scope is very moderate," he noted. "We have five projects but they are not in groundbreaking spheres. Today, we drew attention of our Japanese colleagues to this fact." "We also said that a range of large-scale project documents that are being discussed have been failing to be realized for years," Lavrov said. "In particular, we need to launch official talks on an agreement of trade and investment liberalization, on an agreement on expanding cooperation in the sphere of peaceful use of nuclear energy, on a new agreement on cooperation and peaceful use of outer space, on an agreement on social support, and, of course, on removing obstacles towards visa-free travel." Read more