03 May 2004 13:04
Russian president`s Japan visit postponed over disputed islands policy - Kyodo
Moscow, 3 May: Russia has decided to postpone President Vladimir Putin's official visit to Japan until next
spring as it is unable to work out its fresh approach to the long-standing bilateral territorial dispute in time for his
planned visit in the second half of this year, Russian government sources said Monday [3 May]. The decision was made
just before the 14 March presidential election in which Putin won a second four-year term in a landslide victory, the
sources said.
Japan has long called for the return of the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri and Shikotan and the Habomai islets, all
seized by Soviet troops at the end of World War II, that are the subject of the territorial row. Russia intends to
settle the dispute in line with the 1956 Japan-Soviet declaration in which Russia pledged to return the Habomais and
Shikotan once a peace treaty is signed. Moscow "has no new compromise plan yet" to settle the dispute, a
Russian diplomatic source said.
When Putin met former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in Moscow on 14 April, he indicated his intention to break
the impasse in the dispute, according to Japanese officials. While Japan has been calling for Putin to visit as soon as
possible, a senior official at the Japanese Foreign Ministry said, "it's meaningless to hold on to" the
idea of seeking his visit by the end of the year.
Under the circumstances, a summit meeting in Japan between Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to
pave the way for settling the territorial dispute appears likely to be held around next February when the two countries
celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the 1855 trade treaty between Japan and Russia.
Diplomatic analysts, meanwhile, said Moscow has also taken its relationship with China into account in deciding to
postpone Putin's visit to Japan. As Putin is likely to announce a decision favouring a Japan-proposed route for a
new oil pipeline through Siberia over one desired by China, Moscow believes it should ease the impact on China, which
Putin is slated to visit in October, by delaying his trip to Japan, they said.
[Kyodo News Service] |
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