Medvedev: Russia, Japan have chance to settle territorial dispute

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-7-3  |     ONLINE EDITION

PRESIDENT Dmitry Medvedev said Russia and Japan have a chance to settle their territorial dispute if they do not rely on "miracles" but work "in a friendly way," the Itar-Tass news agency reported today.

"It seems to me the main thing here is, on the one hand, not to wait for any miracles, and, on the other, not to slacken contacts, but to work in a friendly way. In this case, we shall have a chance to come to agreement on this problem," Medvedev told reporters of the Group of Eight countries ahead of the group's summit on the Japanese island of Hokkaido.

"We should move forward and discuss this topic in compliance with the declarations which were made earlier...We must discuss openly the ideas that already exist and ideas that are forming now," he said.

Disputes between Russia and Japan on four islands in the Pacific Ocean have long dampened bilateral ties and blocked them from sealing a peace treaty after World War II.