Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has told Japanese media his country expects to sign a nuclear power pact with Japan during his visit here this week, reports said yesterday.
In an interview with Japanese media in Moscow, Putin said he would also present a list of economic cooperation projects during his three-day visit slated to begin today.
Various government-level agreements will be signed as well as between private entities during his visit, he said, adding that a nuclear cooperation pact was also “expected to be signed.”
Japan and Russia are in the final phase of talks over a pact to promote the non-military use of nuclear power, such as for electricity generation. The pact will pave the way for Tokyo to entrust Moscow with uranium enrichment and allow Japan to export nuclear power plant technology to Russia, Kyodo News said.
Calling Japan an “important partner in promoting exchanges based on cutting-edge technologies,” Putin said other potential projects would embrace sectors such as automobiles, energy, aerospace, communications, chemicals and steel, the Nikkei Shimbun said.
Although Putin did not mention the number of projects on the list, sources said there were around 200, Nikkei said.
Putin also said Moscow was ready to talk with Tokyo on the nations’ long-standing territorial dispute over a group of former Japanese islands seized by Soviet troops in the closing days of World War II. But he did not go into specifics about the islands known in Japan as the Northern Territories and referred to in Russia as the Southern Kurils.
“In order to resolve such high-level and difficult problems, it is necessary to show patience, attention to each other’s interests,” Kyodo quoted Putin as saying.
In his first exclusive interview with Japanese media since becoming prime minister la May, Putin also pledged government support for Japanese firms to build car assembly plants in the Russian Far East, Nikkei said.
When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” it became a sensation in China and even created a tourist destination. Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China’s Hubei Province late last month. When reviewing the photographs, he saw something he had not noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog’s head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water’s edge. “It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,” Guo said.
Chinese authorities said they began live-fire exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin on Monday, only days after Vietnam announced a new line marking what it considers its territory in the body of water between the nations. The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration said the exercises would be focused on the Beibu Gulf area, closer to the Chinese side of the Gulf of Tonkin, and would run until tomorrow evening. It gave no further details, but the drills follow an announcement last week by Vietnam establishing a baseline used to calculate the width of its territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. State-run Vietnam News
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