Official website of the President of Russia

The parties have agreed to continue the negotiations proceeding from all the earlier agreements, including the 1993 Tokyo Declaration on Russian-Japanese Relations and the 1998 Moscow Declaration, in order to conclude a peace treaty by resolving the issue of the jurisdiction of the islands of Etorofu, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai.

The parties have noted certain positive results achieved after the 1997 Krasnoyarsk Russian-Japanese summit set down a commitment to bend every effort to conclude a peace treaty by 2000. The results include the creation of the Joint Commission on the Peace Treaty at the level of foreign ministers and a sub-commission on border delimitation, which continues active consultations. The sub-commission on joint economic activities is working vigorously. A programme of Russian-Japanese cooperation in joint economic activities on the islands of Etorofu, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai has been signed.

The agreement on cooperation in harvesting marine wildlife resources has been signed and is successfully implemented, as well as the agreement on free visits to the islands using a simplified procedure. Since 1998, the number of participants in mutual visits between permanent residents of the islands and Japanese residents has increased in accordance with the 1991 agreement. Humanitarian assistance, which started following the 1994 earthquake, also includes cases where emergency aid is necessary.

Seeking to make the negotiating process more effective, the President and the Prime Minister issued directives to their representatives at the Joint Commission on the Peace Treaty to work out new measures to speed up the work of the Commission and the Border Delimitation Sub-Commission. They also issued orders to take steps to prepare a new issue of the Joint Collection of Documents on the History of Territorial Delimitation between Russia and Japan, including, among others, the materials pertaining to the period after 1993. Mr Putin and Mr Mori also gave directives to step up efforts to explain the importance of signing the peace treaty to the public in the two countries.

Mr Putin invited Mr Mori to come to Russia on an official visit. The Prime Minister gratefully accepted the invitation.

The statement reaffirms the commitment of Moscow and Tokyo to establish relations of creative partnership that meet their strategic and geopolitical interests. The document says that the negotiations were marked by an atmosphere of frankness, confidence and mutual respect.