Putin caps his Japan visit with a series of newly penned bilateral agreements between Moscow and Tokyo
TOKYO, Japan — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ended his two-day official visit to Japan on a high note, having returned from Tokyo with a series of penned bilateral agreements covering a broad span of economic and judiciary issues that are aimed at boosting the level of the existing bilateral cooperation between Moscow and Tokyo.
With both Putin and his host, Taro Aso, the Japanese prime minister, watching, key members of both countries’ delegations put their official signatures to several vital agreements, ranging from the peaceful use of nuclear technologies to the provision of legal aid and support to one another in issues covering criminal prosecutions. Other agreements covered customs, boosting energy-use effectiveness, including the use of renewable energy sources, prevention of illegal use of bio-resources, including unsanctioned fishing and unregulated trading of specific species of biological resources.
Assessing the outcomes of the two-day visit at a final press conference in Tokyo dedicated to the results of the two-day talks, Aso noted that Putin’s visit this time reflects the Russian government’s keen interest and readiness to raise the current state of the Russian-Japanese relationships to a much higher level. “I must note that we had a good exchange of opinions during our talks and negotiations on how to move forward on these issues.”
Feeding questions on the thorny territorial issues that have prevented the two countries from signing a Peace Agreement since the end of WWII, Aso noted that both Moscow and Tokyo have indicated their readiness to address the issues with the urgency they deserve, as they currently limit the expansion of the scope of the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. “I must note that the absence of a Peace Agreement between our countries has become a big hindrance to the expansion of ties in a much broader scope of cooperation,” he added. “It is my belief that these territorial issues between us need to be resolved in our generation, based on the principles of the previous agreements.”
In his reply speech, Putin specifically noted the friendly and constructive atmosphere, under which the negotiations with the Japanese prime minister and his Cabinet members took place during the visit. “We are completely satisfied with the dynamics of the development of our relationships, which is in line with the fulfillment of the Russian-Japanese Plan of Actions that was adopted in 2003,” he said. “I must say that we are executing all the plans and pursuing all the goals set out in the plan. And, today, we have become fully convinced that the plan has become a sort of ‘a road map’ in our bilateral relationships.”
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