MOSCOW, March 28. /TASS/. The Russian-Japanese joint economic activities on the South Kuril Islands should not contradict with the Russian legislation, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Argumenty i Fakty weekly.

Lavrov said Russia assigns "priority to the agreement of the Russian and Japanese leaders on the start of consultations between deputy foreign ministers on the joint economic activities in the South Kuril Islands."

The first round of consultations took place on March 18.

"The Russian Foreign Ministry is working in close cooperation with other departments to select really important economic projects that will boost the socio-economic development of the South Kuril Islands and will be useful for residents of the neighboring Russian and Japanese regions," Lavrov said.

"But the legal framework of these projects should not contradict the Russian legislation. This is the key criterion of the joint economic activities," he added.