TOKYO, January 30. /TASS/. Authorities in Japan view Russia’s position on efforts to arrange consultations on fishing operations by Japanese fishermen in the Russian economic zone near the Kurils as unacceptable, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.

"It is unacceptable that the Russian side has made such a move. We insist that Russia should respond to intergovernmental consultations as soon as possible so that we could start fishing shortly," the Japanese official said.

A safe fishing pact is a matter of life and death to Japanese fishermen, Takako Suzuki, a Japanese politician from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, said during debates at a meeting of the budget commission of the lower house of Japan’s parliament on Monday.

On Sunday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had informed Tokyo that it cannot coordinate any timeframes for its consultations on fishing due to Japan’s anti-Russian restrictions. Moscow categorically rejects any "protests" by the Japanese side against this decision, she emphasized.

Japan and Russia signed the agreement on certain aspects of cooperation in the area of fishing operations for marine living resources in 1998.