RUSSO-JAPANESE RELATIONS: POST-SUMMIT PROGRESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 003797

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/06/2016
TAGS: PREL PTER ENRG RS JA
SUBJECT: RUSSO-JAPANESE RELATIONS: POST-SUMMIT PROGRESS

REF: TOKYO 06356

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor W. Michael Meserve. Reason
: 1.4 (b)(d).


1. (C) Summary: Prime Minister Koizumi plans to raise the
Northern Territories territorial dispute during his meeting
with President Putin on the margins of the upcoming G-8
Summit, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Progress
has been made in five of the 12 bilateral agreements signed
at the November 2005 Japan-Russia Summit, according to MOFA
Russia Division officials. The two countries are moving
forward in disaster prevention cooperation, drafting a
Multilateral Legal Assistance Treaty, accelerating visa
issuance, counterterrorism cooperation and the Pacific oil
pipeline project. End Summary.

Progress on Bilateral Agreements
--------------


2. (C) Progress has been made on five of the 12 bilateral
agreements stemming from Russian President Vladimir Putin's
November 2005 visit to Tokyo, MOFA Russia Division Principal
Deputy Director Kazuhiko Nakamura told Embassy Tokyo
Political Officer recently. Advancing cooperation on
disaster prevention is a top priority, Nakamura explained,
because both countries, located on the edge of the same
tectonic plate along the "Ring of Fire," are prone to
devastating earthquakes. During bilateral meetings on
disaster prevention in February 2006, Russian Minister for
Civil Defense Sergey Kuzhugetovich Shoygu brought several
proposals to the table, Nakamura stated, which Japan is now
reviewing with the intent of holding expert-level meetings
soon.


3. (C) Preliminary consultations on a Multilateral Legal
Assistance Treaty (MLAT) were held in March 2006, and the
MLAT committee hopes to begin formal negotiations this summer
for an MLAT comparable to the recently signed U.S.-Japan
MLAT, Nakamura reported. Consultations began in March 2006
to draft an agreement that would accelerate Japanese visa
issuance to a broad range of Russian visa categories,
including journalists and students. However, Nakamura
admitted, negotiations to convince Russia to issue
multiple-year visas have stalled because Russia claims to
"need an international agreement" in order to relax its visa
rules.


4. (C) Seeking progress on a counterterrorism bilateral
agreement, Japan Coast Guard Commandant Hiroki Ishikawa
traveled to Vladivostok at the beginning of May to conduct a
joint antiterrorism drill with the Russian Border Guard
Service, Nakamura noted. Ishigawa observed the exercise with
his counterpart, Vladimir Pronichev. The exercise scenario
assumed that a terrorist group had hijacked a boat and taken
hostages. During the visit, the two sides concluded an
agreement to enhance cooperation in the areas of weapons and
drug trafficking, as well as to increase efforts to counter
poaching.

Japan More Flexible on Pipeline?
--------------


5. (C) Consultations on the Pacific oil pipeline have been
ongoing since the Summit, noted Nakamura, who explained that
energy security remains a top Japanese priority. While
Russia continues to be noncommittal about whether the second
stage of the Pacific pipeline that starts in Taishet will
continue on to the Pacific or branch south to China, Japan
"has no problem" with the ambiguity so long as Russia "does
not completely abandon the route to the Pacific," Nakamura
stated. Environmental assessments continue to delay the
pipeline, Nakamura reported, pointing to new environmental
concerns regarding Perevoznaya as the terminal port on the
Pacific. If the final environmental assessment deems it
necessary, the strategy is to either retain Perevoznaya as
the terminal port and alter other parts of the plan or change
the terminal port to Nakhodka. Nakamura hopes the upcoming
G-8 Summit will lead to further agreement on the pipeline
issue.

Putin-Koizumi Meeting on Margins of G-8
--------------


6. (C) Nakamura confirmed that President Putin and Prime
Minister Koizumi are scheduled to meet on the margins of the
July G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg. Asked whether Koizumi
would raise the Northern Territories territorial dispute,
Nakamura answered that "he will surely bring it up."
Nakamura confided that Japan is hoping to use the summit to
create a better environment to advance territorial
negotiations. He characterized the mood at the Putin-Koizumi
2005 Summit as "difficult," pointing to the fact that it was
the 50th anniversary of Russia's victory in World War II.
Consequently, Russian domestic opinion tended to be more
nationalistic, which prevented Putin from negotiating the
issue. Nakamura was optimistic that the mood of the upcoming
meeting would improve because Putin is starting to "calm
down" from last year and, as host of the G-8 Summit, he will
be "forced to tone down his rhetoric."


7. (C) Comment. Nakamura's expressions of flexibility on
sequencing the phases of pipeline construction represent a
more lenient Japanese approach. Earlier reports stated that
Japan threatened to pull investment from the pipeline project
if Russia decided to build the pipeline to China first.




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