Aso, Medvedev make little headway over disputed islands+

L'AQUILA, Italy, July 9 Kyodo -
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in
their talks Thursday in Italy, failed to make any headway in resolving their
countries' decades-old dispute over the ownership of four Russian-held islands
off Hokkaido.

Bilateral relations now have apparently gone into reverse after showing earlier
signs of progress amid hopes that the two leaders could take a positive step
forward over the row in their latest meeting held on the sidelines of the Group
of Eight summit in the central Italian city of L'Aquila.
Medvedev told Aso that the Russian parliament protested at Japan's recent
enactment of a law declaring the islands to be an ''integral part'' of Japan,
calling for the need to ''improve the environment'' to make progress in the
dispute, according to a Japanese government official.
Medvedev also stressed that the issue cannot be solved without a political
decision and that he is ready to continue talks in ''a constructive way.'' He
also repeated his earlier remark that the issue has to be settled during the
current generation, the official said.
Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said Medvedev criticized the law
during his talks with Aso as something that would not help either side to sit
at the table for negotiations on a peace treaty.
Aso, in response, reiterated Japan's view that Russia's control of the islands
constitutes ''an ungrounded occupation in terms of international laws,''
according to the Japanese official.
He was also quoted as telling Medvedev, ''If Russia is not ready to make any
concrete progress toward (signing) a (Japan-Russia) peace treaty, Japan will
not build a partnership in the Asia-Pacific region.''
Aso was referring to the ongoing bilateral cooperation in areas such as energy,
trade and investment.
The territorial row over the islands -- Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the
Habomai islet group -- has kept the two countries from signing a post-World War
II peace treaty. Japan has been calling for control of all four, known in Japan
as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils.
During their 70-minute talks Thursday, however, Aso and Medvedev agreed to
continue their efforts to find a breakthrough over the sovereignty row through
summit dialogues between Tokyo and Moscow, the Japanese official said.
Among other issues, the leaders agreed to set up a joint panel of experts from
Japan, Russia and the United States at an early stage as part of their
cooperative efforts to ensure safety and security in the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan's enactment of the revised law last week has sparked a backlash from
Russian islanders, leading residents on Etorofu Island to refuse to allow the
entry of a delegation of former Japanese islanders, although the refusal was
later retracted.
Prikhodko said on Thursday that Russia will continue its commitment to a
visa-free exchange program, which was initiated in 1992 to help smooth rocky
ties between the two countries and allowed the Japanese delegation as part of
this year's visits.
Hopes had been high before Thursday's bilateral talks that progress might be
seen on the issue after Medvedev said in his first meeting with Aso in Peru
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.
They then agreed in talks in Sakhalin in February to intensify efforts to
resolve the dispute, taking what they described as a creative and
unconventional approach.
In addition, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, during his visit to Japan
in May, hinted that the two countries could move a step forward in July, saying
he believes Aso and Medvedev will discuss ''every possible option'' to resolve
the dispute in their talks in Italy.
Following the February talks with Medvedev, Aso said told the Japanese
parliament that he had urged him to ''respond properly'' on the ownership issue
by the time of their next talks. The Japanese government had expected to
receive Russia's answer in the latest meeting.
==Kyodo