Japan, Russia to study 'every option' to solve territory row at July talks+

TOKYO, May 12 Kyodo -
Japan and Russia will discuss ''every possible option'' to solve a decades-old
territorial dispute when their leaders hold talks in July in Italy, including
the idea of a partial return to Japan of the four Russian-controlled islands
off Hokkaido, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

''At the (July) talks, (the two countries) will discuss every possible option
for the purpose'' of concluding a post-World War II peace treaty, Putin said at
a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Aso after their meeting in
Tokyo.
Every possible option includes the idea of the return of ''3.5'' of the four
islands claimed by Japan rather than the reversion of all of them, which a
Japanese daily reported last month as one referred to by former Vice Foreign
Minister Shotaro Yachi, according to Putin.
''We agreed to explore a mutually acceptable solution'' to the dispute
involving Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group -- known in
Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils, Aso
said.
Aso, who is scheduled to hold talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on
the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit in July in Italy, said he was
encouraged that Putin has a ''strong will'' to reach a final settlement on the
territorial row.
Japan has argued that Tokyo will conclude no peace treaty with Moscow unless
Russia declares all the islands belong to Japan.
At their last meeting in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the capital of Sakhalin Island, Aso
and Medvedev agreed to accelerate negotiations to resolve the territorial row
by pursuing a ''creative and unconventional approach.''
During Tuesday's meeting, Aso and Putin agreed to spur bilateral economic ties
as the two countries signed a series of agreements ranging from civil nuclear
and oil development to energy saving and customs facilitation as a way of
boosting trade and investment.
Russia has linked progress on the dispute to closer economic ties with Japan,
while Japan argues an absence of a peace treaty stymies business relations.
''We do not mean to try to conclude a peace treaty as a way of expanding
economic exchanges,'' said Putin, who was president from 2000 to 2008. ''We are
trying to develop economic exchanges in order to conclude a peace treaty.''
A mutually beneficial feature, a bilateral treaty on the peaceful use of
nuclear energy, would allow Russia to significantly boost uranium shipments to
Japan. It would also allow Japan to use Russia's uranium enrichment technology
and Japanese companies to build nuclear power plants in Russia.
In a sign of bilateral cooperation in the development of the Russian Far East,
Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp., a government-backed agency, signed a
deal with Irkutsk Oil Co. to develop two mining areas in Eastern Siberia
through a joint venture, eying oil production after 2013.
With the project, Japan hopes to reduce its high reliance on the Middle East
for oil, Japanese officials said.
Among other areas, Japan and Russia agreed to protect the marine and land
ecosystems, given the fact that global warming has reduced the size of floating
ice in the Sea of Okhotsk by 20 percent in 30 years.
The two countries also agreed to cooperate in the prevention of poaching and
smuggling of fisheries products.
Japan and Russia have expanded economic relations in recent years, with
bilateral trade growing to nearly $30 billion in 2008 from about $5 billion in
2000. The number of Japanese companies entering Russia rose to 349 in 2007 from
85 in 2000, according to Japanese data.
Earlier Tuesday, Putin held separate talks with former Japanese prime ministers
Yoshiro Mori and Junichiro Koizumi. Putin also attended a Japan-Russia business
forum where he called for stronger business tie-ups between the two countries.
==Kyodo