Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Tokyo on Tuesday evening to exchange
ideas toward resolving their territorial dispute.
At the press conference following the meeting, Komura and Lavrov
said they both have the desire for a resolution and agreed to make
utmost efforts toward resolving the long-standing dispute.
The two ministers also agreed to hold the third round of vice
foreign ministerial talks in Moscow on December 6.
Japan and Russia arranged the first two rounds of such talks
under the goal of seeking "common strategic interests" in January
and June respectively.
However, Kyodo News said that Komura and Lavrov's remarks to the
media did not indicate any concrete progress in seeking a mutually
acceptable settlement to the territorial dispute.
The meeting was a follow-up of a telephone conversation between
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Russian President Vladimir
Putin last week, during which the two leaders agreed to expedite
the process of resolving the dispute.
Trade between the two countries expanded smoothly during the
past several years, reaching the record high in volume in 2006.
However, their political ties remained somewhat at odds mainly due
to the territorial dispute.
Mutually confronting claims of sovereignties over four islands
which are located northeast off Japan's northernmost Hokkaido, have
been blocking the sound development of ties between Japan and
Russia, who signed no peace treaty following World War II because
of the dispute.
The four islands, now known as the Northern Territories in Japan
and the Southern Kurils in Russia, were occupied by Soviet troops
after the war and are currently under Russian control.
(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2007)
