"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

Japan, Russia agree to speed up peace treaty talks

SYDNEY-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Saturday to instruct their officials to expedite efforts toward resolving a long-standing territorial dispute and concluding a bilateral peace treaty, Japanese officials said.Meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Sydney, Abe and Putin also agreed to work together to create a post-Kyoto Protocol framework as well as to speed up negotiations on a nuclear cooperation pact.In relation to the territorial row, Abe was quoted as saying that Japan attaches importance to strengthening Japan-Russia ties and in order to elevate the relationship to a higher level, concluding a peace treaty is indispensable.Putin told Abe that he is interested in finding a resolution that is mutually acceptable to both sides, the officials said. Japan and Russia remain at odds over the sovereignty of Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils. The dispute over the Russian-held islands has prevented the two sides from concluding a postwar peace treaty.Tokyo and Moscow have already agreed to seek a mutually acceptable solution to the territorial row, but it remains uncertain how and when a compromise will be reached.The two leaders agreed to concretize a joint development initiative put on the table by Abe during their talks on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit in Heiligendamm, Germany. It involves cooperation in eight fields to develop the Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia.Abe and Putin also agreed to cooperate over the Eastern Siberia- Pacific Ocean pipeline, the officials said.To promote dialogue and negotiations, they agreed on diplomatic schedules including a foreign ministers' meeting in Tokyo in late October, a visit to Japan by Russia's deputy premier in early November and a strategic dialogue involving vice foreign ministers within this year in Moscow.On climate change, Abe and Putin agreed that the two countries should cooperate in creating a framework to deal with global warming beyond 2012 when the Kyoto Protocol expires, the officials said.The international community is stepping up efforts to build a post- Kyoto framework that will be effective and include all major greenhouse gas emitters notably China, India and the United States.Abe and Putin did not take up international affairs such as North Korea and Iran due to the time constraints of their one-hour meeting.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8RH8RKO0&show_article=1&catnum=0
As in the days of Noah...