Question: In connection with the forthcoming visit by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Igor Ivanov to Japan on December 17th-19th, could you, please, comment on the development of Russian-Japanese relations.

Answer: Relations with Japan - our Far-Eastern neighbour, a member of the Eight, and one of the major economic powers of the world - are a priority direction of the Russian foreign policy.

In the past few years Russian-Japanese relations have been characterised by increasing activity of the political dialogue, by the enhancing of mutual understanding, and by the proximity of the approaches to resolution of many international and regional problems. We view the development and strengthening of interaction with Japan in the international arena as a weighty factor for improving bilateral relations and for strengthening stability and security in the APEC and in the world as a whole.

The sides welcome the current intensification of the political dialogue at diverse levels. The past month alone saw the official visit by chairman of the Russia State Duma Gennady Seleznyov and chairman of the Russian Audit Chamber Sergei Stepashin to Japan and the visit by vice-chairman of the Association of the Parliamentarians of Japan from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party K. Omi to Russia. The preparation for an official visit by Director General of the Defence Agency of Japan S. Ishiba to Russia is under way.

We proceed from the idea that the forthcoming meetings and talks which will be held in the course of the Japanese visit by the Russian Foreign Minister will be fresh evidence of both countries' intent to expand cooperation on the broadest spectrum of problems and to deepen relations of mutual trust and friendship.

Q.: What themes can be given priority at the forthcoming talks of Igor Ivanov in Tokyo?

A.: Discussion of the questions of preparation for the official visit by the Prime Minister of Japan to the Russian Federation which is planned for January 2003 and in the course of which Russian-Japanese summit talks will take place is the most important task of the forthcoming visit by the Russian Foreign Minister to Japan. The sides proceed from the idea that the Russian-Japanese summit in Moscow will give a fresh impetus to the development of bilateral relations, as well as to the further strengthening of the two countries' interaction in resolving the topical problems of world politics.

At the talks on December 18th the two foreign ministers will, in particular, exchange views on the contents of the Plan of Action on the further development of Russian-Japanese relations in all spheres to be approved on the results of the January summit meeting.

The sides are at one in the striving to submit for approval by the heads of the two states an extensive document, oriented to the future, which will determine the main directions of the exertion of the further efforts to build relations of creative partnership between Russia and Japan.

It is also planned to consider a wide range of practical questions of bilateral relations with a view to further deepening mutual understanding and to strengthening the base of cooperation between Russia and Japan.

The presentation of the Japanese edition of the Russian Minister's book New Russian Diplomacy. Ten Years of the Country's Foreign Policy. will be held during Igor Ivanov's stay in Tokyo. Questions in which Russia and Japan interact both on a bilateral and multilateral basis are, in particular, considered in the book, and it contains an explanation of the inner logic and mechanisms for the formation of Russia's foreign policy of the past decade.

Q.: What problems of a regional and international character will be considered at the talks?

A.: The international block of questions of the upcoming talks of the Ministers will include quite a number of themes having both a global and regional dimension. Listed among them are further strengthening of Russian-Japanese interaction in the struggle against international terrorism, specifically considering the results of the bilateral interdepartmental consultations held in Tokyo in November, the situation on the Korean peninsula and around Iraq, in the Central-Asian region and in the Middle East, and the prospects for broadening of cooperation of Russia and Japan in the nature-conservation sphere.