Aso to become 1st Japanese prime minister to visit Sakhalin on Wed.+

TOKYO, Feb. 17 Kyodo - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will visit Sakhalin Island on Wednesday for
summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, becoming the first
Japanese premier in the postwar period to set foot on the island, Japanese
government officials said Tuesday.

Aso and Medvedev are scheduled to hold talks Wednesday morning ahead of an
opening ceremony for Russia's first liquefied natural gas production plant,
part of the ''Sakhalin-2'' oil and natural gas development project, a Japanese
Foreign Ministry official said.
Aso told reporters on the eve of the one-day visit that he would like to see
''how much we can engage in talks over pending issues (between Tokyo and
Moscow) including the Northern Territories issue.''
''I believe Russia is aiming to build a solid relationship with Japan,'' he said.
Medvedev proposed the meeting to Aso during telephone talks on Jan. 24, Chief
Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said.
In the planned talks, the two leaders are expected to discuss a diverse range
of bilateral issues including a longstanding territorial dispute involving four
Russian-held islands off Hokkaido in northern Japan, according to top Japanese
government spokesman Kawamura.
''I hope Russia will show a new approach'' on the issue so the countries can
achieve a breakthrough in the deadlocked dispute, another Foreign Ministry
official said, noting that ''Japan's position (on the matter) has basically not
changed.''
Japan is placing high hopes on the talks as Medvedev said in his first meeting
with Aso in Lima last November that he has no intention of leaving the dispute
to future generations to resolve and that it can be settled if leaders have the
determination to do so.
The meeting between Aso and Medvedev in November was held on the sidelines of
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in the Peruvian capital.
When attending an annual gathering on ''Northern Territories Day'' on Feb. 7,
Aso said ''In order to bring progress to the bilateral negotiations, it is
important for the government and the people to unite in their efforts to
resolve this issue.''
The four islands -- Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan and the Habomai group of
islets -- are known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the
Southern Kurils.
The sovereignty dispute has kept the two nations from concluding a peace treaty
since World War II.
Under the Sakhalin-2 project in which Japanese trading houses Mitsui & Co. and
Mitsubishi Corp. are taking part, ''Japan can ensure about 7 percent of the
nation's annual LNG imports,'' Economic, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro
Nikai said Tuesday at a press conference.
In an attempt to reduce its heavy dependency on LNG exports to Europe, Moscow
is hoping to increase the export ratio to Asia, according to the ministry
official.
''I believe Russia has strong hopes of obtaining Japanese cooperation in terms
of land development in exchange for energy supplies,'' Nikai said.
On the issue of Russia's requirement for disembarkation cards to enter the
islands, the ministry official said ''the issue is something that should be
discussed at the working level,'' indicating that there will be little progress
during the summit talks.
In late January, Russia demanded that Japanese government officials submit
disembarkation cards to enter the four islands to bring in medical and other
humanitarian aid to island residents, drawing renewed attention to the
sovereignty dispute and threatening the visa-free exchange program between
Japanese citizens and current Russian residents of the islands.
==Kyodo