Koizumi promises to step up talks on Southern Kuriles
04.04.2005, 11.26
TOKYO, April 4 (Itar-Tass) - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi promised here on Monday to step up the talks with Russia on the Southern Kuriles problem. He voiced it in the course of his meeting with the leaders of the country’s northernmost prefecture, Hokkaido, and with activists of the movement for “the return of the northern territories” as the disputed islands are called here.
“We wish to notify Russia that our people are unanimous on this problem,” the premier stated. Tokyo wants Moscow to recognise Japan’s sovereignty over the Southern Kuriles, claiming that they are part and parcel of Hokkaido both geographically and historically. Tokyo promises to be ready, after its sovereignty over the islands is recognised, to flexibly consider the terms and time limits for the handover of the islands. Russia, for its part, agrees to hand over to Japan a lesser part of the Southern Kuriles, namely the Shikotan Island and the uninhabited Habomai range, but only after a peace treaty is signed between the two counties.
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