Russia's lower house on March 18 held a one-day public hearing, during which a draft proposal recommending Russian President Vladimir Putin and other government organizations suspend the ongoing territorial negotiations between Tokyo and Moscow was submitted.
The draft, presented to the public hearing of the State Duma, Russia's lower chamber, calls on Putin and the Russian government such as the Foreign Ministry to deny the existence of a territorial issue between the two nations and conclude a good neighbor treaty with Japan under the current conditions.
The draft, compiled by the lower house foreign affairs committee, security committee and other related bodies, requests that Putin review the previous Russian position in the 1990s recognizing the existence of the territorial row between the two nations.
The appearance of the draft recommendation, which is expected to be adopted, will likely deal a further blow to the bilateral territorial negotiations, already recently suffering due to Russia's official rejection of Tokyo's "two-track" approach to resolving the issue.
Japan wanted to stick to the dual approach, which calls for dialogue on the return of Shikotan Island and the Habomai group of islets while talks on the fate of Kunashiri and Etorofu islands take place simultaneously.
The proposal also claims Tokyo and Moscow are no longer technically at war, due to the 1956 Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration, thus it is not necessary for Russia to conclude a peace treaty with Japan to resolve the territorial dispute alleged by Japan.
Soviet troops seized the islands shortly after Japan surrendered in World War II. Japan sees the territorial row as the biggest obstacle preventing the two countries from signing a peace treaty.
(People's Daily March 19, 2002)
