MOSCOW. April 12 (Interfax) - Moscow seeks full clarity with Tokyo over the ownership of the Southern Kurils Island, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"This statement, if I remember correctly, says that it was agreed to continue the dialogue to resolve all issues, including the ownership of all four islands. We are not rejecting it. But this is a statement after all, though I confirm that our goal is to ensure full clarity with respect to the ownership of all four islands," the minister said in an interview with Mongolian, Japanese and Chinese media outlets, when asked if the statement, signed by the Russian president and the Japanese premier in 2001, could serve as the basis for conducting talks over the status of the islands.
Russia and Japan have had a joint declaration since October 19, 1956, Lavrov said. "The declaration of October 19, 1956 is not just a signed document, but the only one ratified between our countries on this problem," he said.