GORKI, February 1. /TASS/. Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev believes that the Japanese authorities are aware it will be impossible to conclude a peace treaty with Russia on Tokyo’s current terms in that concerns the Kuril Islands, but still prefer to stick to them for the time being.
"They (Japanese authorities) understand everything, they are intelligent, wise people, but they have their internal doctrines, which, they believe, are based on intra-national consensus. These doctrines do not let them backtrack," Medvedev told Russian mass media in an interview. "This explains why they keep repeating this mantra (about sovereignty over the Kuril Islands). As for the understanding that on the basis of such doctrines it will be impossible to achieve an agreement, I believe they are well aware of this."
Medvedev said that Tokyo’s doctrines he mentioned were rather firm.
"But in response to these firm doctrines we already have our own decisions stemming from amendments to the Constitution: we have no right to negotiate the possibility of ceding sovereignty over Russian territories," he recalled. "From the official standpoint there is no subject matter for negotiations."
Medvedev speculated that after sometime peace treaty talks would resume, including those at the summit level. He recalled Russia’s proposal for the joint use of the Kuril Islands. "The idea has been very simple all along: let us create joint ventures, let us carry out economic activity in the interests of Russia and Japan and promote exchanges. In other words, the widest range of economic opportunities can be used here. But our counterparts have been reluctant to agree to this for the time being. They have a firm doctrine and they stick to it," Medvedev concluded.