RUSSIAN-JAPANESE CONSULTATIONS OPEN IN TOKYO








TOKYO, MARCH 5, 2001, /FROM RIA-NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT VYACHESLAV BANTIN/ -- Russian and Japanese deputy foreign ministers started negotiating here today within the framework of preparations for the Irkutsk summit, due to take place March 25.


	Both sides will attach priority to the contents of a joint statement, due to be signed by President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation and Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori of Japan, after their talks wind up.


	The Japanese side is represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Ryozo Kato, who will negotiate with his Russian counterpart Alexander Losyukov.


	According to well-informed sources, specific approaches to the 1956-vintage Russian-Japanese joint declaration will constitute the main item of the agenda. It ought to be mentioned in this connection that Moscow had made a good-will gesture at the time, voicing its readiness to transfer the smaller part of the South Kurile archipelago, e.g. the islands of Shikotan and Habomai, to Japan, after the signing of a bilateral peace treaty. That provision is contained in the joint declaration. By the way, Tokyo has been trying to get that archipelago back over the entire post-war period. However, Tokyo had refused to sign a peace treaty in accordance with such terms later in 1956, demanding that all four islands be simultaneously handed over to Japan.


	Tokyo now considers the issue of Shikotan and Habomai islands to be irrelevant because their transfer is stipulated by the above-mentioned joint declaration. Consequently, the transfer of Kunashiri and Etorofu islands alone should be negotiated at this stage, the Japanese side believes.


	Moscow considers such an approach to be illegitimate because Tokyo had voluntarily ceded its rights to two islands. According to the Russian side, both countries should discuss the document's present-day interpretation in great detail 45 years after the signing of that declaration.