NAGOYA, Japan. Nov 25 (Interfax) - Russia has handed over to the Japanese side the list of its concerns in light of Tokyo's military union with Washington, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday.
"The military union with the United States is, of course, a problem when it comes to improving the quality of Russian-Japanese relations. [...] We handed over to our Japanese colleagues via the Foreign Ministry and our Security Council the list of Russia's completely specific concerns about our security, concerns with emerge in light of the existence, constant development and strengthening of the Japanese-U.S. military-political union," he told journalists in Nagoya.
The Japanese side promised to respond to these concerns, Lavrov said.
"We will wait for his response and continue the discussion," the minister said.
In this context, while agreeing on the Joint Declaration of 1956, the Soviet Union had pointed out that the full implementation of this document was only possible if "the U.S. military presence in the Japanese territory ends," Lavrov said.