Japanese premier dissatisfied with Russian position on territorial

10/7 Tass 412

L'AQUILA, July 10 (Itar-Tass) -- Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is
not satisfied with the Russian position on the territorial problem but
hopes for further dialog.

The premier told the Friday press conference in L'Aquila that his
negotiations with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev centered on the
territorial problem. Russia confirmed the possibility of a non-standard
solution but no specific progress was made, he said.
In the opinion of Aso, the problem should be discussed at the top
level, as the regular diplomatic exchanges were obviously insufficient.
Diplomats have been working on the solution for 60 years but there is
still none, he said. The situation was confirmed last November and this
February, Aso said.
Many Tokyo newspapers criticized the Japanese premier for the outcome
of his negotiations with Medvedev. The newspapers declared a diplomatic
defeat and even a failure of Aso's foreign policy. Shortly before the G-8
summit in L'Aquila, the premier complicated the dialog with his
declarations of the 'illegal occupation' of the South Kurils.
Meanwhile, President Dmitry Medvedev said at the Friday press
conference in L'Aquila that the only legal foundation of the resolution of
the Russia-Japan territorial problem and the signing of a peace treaty was
the Declaration 1956.
"The [peace] treaty is a complicated issue," he said, adding that
bilateral contacts had been regular. The issue was discussed with Japanese
Prime Minister Taro Aso on the sidelines of the G-8 L'Aquila summit. "It
was a serious, amicable and detailed conversation. We were absolutely
frank and listened to each other," Medvedev noted.
While discussing territorial problems and peace treaty prospects,
Russia "refers to Declaration 1956 as the only possible legal foundation
of the settlement process. The entire dialog must be centered on that
document," he said.
Medvedev said that the subject must not be politicized. He thus
referred to the amendments approved by the Japanese parliament to affirm
the South Kurils as 'indigenous territories' of Japan. "I understand that
national parliaments, establishments and publics have their own positions,
but it is desirable to avoid additional irritants in order to create a
normal and pragmatic atmosphere of the negotiations," he said.
"Unfortunately, Japan has created additional causes for tensions with
parliamentary resolutions, including the ones formulated in a way totally
unacceptable for Russia. We should avoid such politicization if we want to
reach a comprehensive agreement," Medvedev said.
Asked by a Japanese journalist about visa-less exchanges between Japan
and the Kurils, he said, the issue was connected to a large extent to the
peace treaty and the solution of the territorial problem. "Certainly, we
can make certain decisions, but they must correlate to our understanding
of ways to agree on the fundamental peace treaty. The discussions will go
on."