Roundtable on Russian-Japanese Relations to Be Held in Irkutsk in September

In September 2002, in the city of Irkutsk, a roundtable on Russian-Japanese relations will be held, part of the Baikal Economic Forum. This was decided today during a meeting of Mikhail Margelov, Chairman of the International Relations Committee of the Council of Federation, with a delegation of Japanese parliamentarians.

Discussed at the roundtable will be a large number of issues pertaining to bilateral cooperation in politics and economy, the problem of the Kuril islands, and the prospects of the signing of a peace treaty between Russia and Japan.

Parliamentarians of the two countries intend to actively participate in preparations for Russian-Japanese summit in December 2002 - January 2003. Mr. Margelov believes that parliamentarians of the two countries, while still at the preparatory stage, may successfully resolve many disputed issues before they become the problems of the two governments.