Sergei Lavrov recalled that the peace treaty is on the Russo-Japanese Action Plan accepted in January 2003 by the Russian president and the Japanese prime minister.
"I would not like to specify the date it will happent. It is a political issue, which depends upon the public opinion and we should not artificially hasten things," Sergei Lavrov pointed out.
The Russian foreign minister said he would pay a visit to Japan this year. "The Japanese foreign minister invited me to the her country before Vladimir Putin visits Japan early next year and I gratefully accepted the invitation," Sergei Lavrov said.
Japan would like to sign the peace treaty with Russia early next year.
"It is our greatest hope," said Hatsuhisha Takashima, Japanese Foreign Ministry press secretary who arrived in Moscow as a memebr of the Japanese delegation headed by Yoriko Kawaguchi.
"The fact that no peace treaty has been signed between Russia and Japan is unacceptable for both countries," Mr. Takashima said.
"Once the peace treaty is signed our great cooperation potential will be fully implemented," Mr. Takashima stressed.
According to him, the Japanese party do not yet know "whether signing the peace treaty with Russia is possible early next year." "However, we believe we can negotiate this and hopefully the negotiations will be fruitful. The sooner - the better. The best opportunity to do it is Vladimir Putin's visit to Japan," Mr. Takashima underlined.
He stressed how important it is for Japan to participate in construction of the Angarsk (East Siberia) - Nakhodka (a seaport close to Vladivostok on the western coast of the Japanese Sea) oil pipieline.
"We are interested in exploring oil fields in Siberia," Mr. Takashima said. Meanwhile,he stressed it was too early to dicuss financial details of the issue as the Russian party has not provided the Japanese side with a draft project budget yet.
Sergei Lavrov stressed certain progress of the third round of the multilateral talks on the North Korean nuclear issue held in Beijing.
"The information both Russia and Japan get from Beijing proves the talks have achieved certain progress," Sergei Lavrom emphasized.
The Russian foreign minister said it is necessary to settle the North Korean issue by political means.
"Today's meeting addressed the issue and Russia and Japan have the same stances towards the North Korean nuclear issue - it must be settled through political channels," Mr. Lavrov pointed out.
Sergei Lavrov believes the negotiations on the North Korean nuclear issue should go on.
"The talks are not likely to end today. One more round will be necessary for sure, however, the format should remain the same," Mr. Lavrov underlined.
Mr. Lavrov expressed his concernes over escalation of the situation in Iraq.
"We have concerns over escalation of violence Iraq. We believe an international conference with all interested parties involved including the opposition, neighbouring states and the UN Security Council is necessary. In so doing all participants will feel they are really involved in the peaceful settlement of the situation," Mr. Lavrov said.
He stressed that Russia supported UN Security Council Resolution №1546 on the settlement of the situation in Iraq.
"We believe it is a good resolution. It lays down the principles of how the Iraqis will regain their sovereignity and the plan for it is quite realistic," Sergei Lavrov emphasized.
He also said proper conditions must be established in Iraq for the resolution to come true. "Hopefully, security will improve in Iraq," Mr. Lavrov concluded.
