World13:05 18.07.2018Get short URL
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Moscow hopes that the project to link Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido with Russia’s Sakhalin via a road-and-rail bridge will eventually be implemented, Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin told Sputnik.
“[Russia hopes] that this landmark project, which is unique for the Russian-Japanese relations, will remain a subject for the constructive discussion, first of all, and will be implemented in the future,” Galuzin said.
This project is being discussed within Russia-Japan Intergovernmental Committee on Trade and Economic Issues, as well as in the course of a business dialogue between the two countries, the ambassador added.
During the Eastern Economic Forum in September 2017, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said that Russia had offered Japan to build the transport connection, which would make Japan a “continental power.”
Visa-Free Travel
Russia hopes that Japan will display interest in a dialogue on the prospects of introducing visa-free travel between the two countries, Mikhail Galuzin said.
Earlier in July, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov said that Russia was ready to consider an agreement with Japan on visa-free short-term travels.
“As a matter of principle, we stand for the maximum possible liberalization of visa regime with Japan, seeing such liberalization as an important factor to intensify communication among our citizens, tourist flows, business contacts, official contacts at a level of ministries and government agencies … We hope that our Japanese counterparts will also display readiness for that [visa-free travel] at some stage,” Galuzin said.
According to Galuzin, Moscow is ready to move forward on the issue as far as the Japanese side is ready to.
He specified that there could be a lot of options under consideration – from a 72-hour visa-free transit stay to visa-free regime for the period from 30 to 60 days.
The diplomat stressed that Russia was open to a “maximum constructive and result-oriented dialogue.”
Russia and Japan have long been in talks on the issue of visa-free travel. During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Japan in 2016, the Russian leader proposed introducing a free border travel regime for residents of Sakhalin and the island of Hokkaido, as part of visa facilitation efforts between the two states. Since then, mutual travels between the residents of the neighboring areas have been carried out under simplified procedures.
Aegis Ashore Missile Deployment in Japan
The deployment of the Aegis Ashore missile defense system, which is seen by Moscow as part of the US global missile defense system, will be to the detriment of the strategic stability in the Asia-Pacific region, Galuzin said.
“In my viewpoint, it will,” Galuzin said, when asked, whether the deployment of the Aegis Ashore missile defense system in Japan would result in imbalance in the strategic stability in the region.
He stressed that Moscow sees the move as “de-facto deployment of the Asia-Pacific segment of the US global missile defense system.”
“The US global missile defense system is one of the most serious factors destabilizing the system of global security. Hence, the deployment of segments of the US global missile defense system wherever it takes place – in Poland, Romania, Japan and South Korea – it is a very serious destabilizing factor,” the diplomat stressed.
In December, the Japanese government approved the deployment of Aegis Ashore in the northwest and in the southwest of the country. The two components are expected to cover the entire country and will each cost Japan about $890 million. Tokyo expects that they will enter service before 2023.
Currently, Japan is protected by four destroyers equipped with US Aegis missile defense systems carrying SM-3 intercept missiles as well as surface-to-air modernized Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) ballistic missile interceptors.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
