MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia is ready to consider joint work with Japan on the Kuril islands, conditions must be as liberal as possible, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"As regards the southern Kuril Islands, there are different possible options. We are ready to consider joint efforts on one, two, three, or four islands. The terms are important, but they have to be as liberal as possible," Putin told the Nippon TV channel and the Yomiuri newspaper, as quoted by the Kremlin.
According to the Russian president, Moscow is interested in Japan’s participation in the development of the Russian Far East, as well as receiving Japanese technologies.
He stressed the need for the Russia-Japan cooperation deals to be "legally binding documents guaranteeing the implementation of our mutual commitments."
"We are natural partners in the world and the Far East, but the absence of a peace treaty does not allow us to develop the full range of our relations. Therefore, we will naturally strive to sign this treaty. We want full-scale normalisation of relations," Putin said.
The resolution of the territorial issue with Japan must correspond to Russia's national interests, normalization of bilateral ties is included in this definition, Vladimir Putin said.
Japan lays claims to Russia's Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan islands and the Habomai group of islets. Japan's position has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a peace treaty after World War II.
"Both the Prime Minister and I enjoy a fairly high level of trust among the citizens of our countries. However, personally, I see this as not having the right to abuse this trust, and any decision we reach should correspond to the national interests of the Russian Federation," Putin said.
"Yet our interests, the interests of the Russian Federation, include the normalization of relations with Japan, which is not at the bottom of the agenda. The whole range of what will be proposed for a solution, the entire range of matters related to the normalization of our relations and what that would bring after normalization, this is the whole range of issues to be discussed and decided, and those decisions should be of a practical nature," he said.
