* 현재 컨텐츠 정보를 준비 중에 있습니다.

[닫기]

It is important that Russia and Japan build relations of mutual trust and establish a strategic partnership by resolving the dispute over four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido claimed by Japan as well as by concluding a World War II peace treaty to completely normalize bilateral relations.
Under Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Russian-Japanese relations have remarkably improved. The so-called "Japan-Russia Action Plan"signed by both leaders in their first official summit meeting in early January, 2003 in Moscow contributes to the development of bilateral relations in the political, economic, security, and cultural fields.
The Russian economy has been growing over the past five years, while the long-awaited tendency towards economic recovery is detected in Japan as well. As a result, the scope of bilateral trade in 2003 approached the record-high mark of 6.1 billion US dollars that had been attained only in Soviet times. Nevertheless, considering the national potential of the two countries, their economic contacts are still in an embryo state. On the energy front, however, they would work together to support cooperative relations, including those for a pipeline project from western Siberia to the Pacific Coast and for an oil and natural gas exploitation project off Sakhalin in eastern Russia.
Putin has expressed the desire for a complete settlement of the territorial dispute. Putin said at talks with the Japanese delegation on April 14, 2004 that Russia was interested in finding solutions to any disputable issues in relations with Japan. Putin stressed that "all that impedes the development of relations should be removed." Putin also opined, "[Both] sides should find a solution that would be acceptable to both Russia and Japan." Putin concluded, "we do not want just to occupy ourselves with the task of solving them, but are interested in their entire settlement, because it is in the interests of Russia and Japan to develop relations and do it energetically, taking into account all the challenges that we are facing."
Putin has emphatically noted that relations with Japan is among Russia's foreign policy priorities in his recent annual address to the Federal Assembly. He has remined that Russian-Japanese relations are strategically important for Russia. As he now has stronger domestic clout following his re-election to a second term, Putin will be in a position to offer compromises on the territorial issue, which in turn could lead to economic cooperation from Japan.

[닫기]