"We are studying the federal projects...on Kuril Islands for 2016-2025. This is a unique place...first of all because of its geographical natural resources with a colossal economic potential, " Medvedev said at a government meeting.
He noted that "the financing for the 10-year program amounts to roughly 70 billion rubles (over 1.22 billion U.S. dollars), including around 28 billion rubles (491 million dollars) from the federal budget."
Medvedev said that Russia has been actively restoring both civilian and military infrastructure on the four disputed islets, according to an official transcript published on the internet.
"The (Kuril) Islands have played and will be playing a role of our frontier defenders," Medvedev said, adding that the regional government must fully support the Russian armed forces deployed there.
Meanwhile, the development project should improve the living conditions and attract more residents, while strengthening transport connectivity of the islands with Russian mainland is one of the most important missions, according to Medvedev.
The prime minister also said he planned to visit Kuril Islands to check the real situation there, and called on other Russian government officials to follow his steps.
Japan and Russia are at odds over the series of islands north off Japan's Hokkaido, which keep the two sides from signing a peace treaty since the end of the Second World War.
The possible visit of Medvedev aroused the irritation of the Japanese embassy to Russia, as one official at the embassy said later in the day that such a trip would be unacceptable for Japan.
"If the prime minister visits the Northern Territories, it would contradict Japanese government's policy and hurt the soul of the Japanese people," Interfax news agency quoted the official as saying.
In November of 2010, then president Medvedev visited the islands and became the first Russian leader to carry out such a trip.
Xinhua - china.org.cn
24/7/15
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Medvedev may visit Russian-held isles off Hokkaido...
ReplyDeleteRussian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev indicated Thursday he plans to inspect economic development on some of the Kuril Islands, about 1,300 km northeast of Hokkaido, including four claimed by Japan.
The inspection may be designed to demonstrate Russia’s effective control of the four islands, which were occupied by Soviet forces following Japan’s surrender in World War II on Aug. 15, 1945.
Earlier in the day, the Russian government approved a 10-year plan to develop the Kuril Islands. Medvedev said the government will spend 70 billion rubles (¥149.4 million) on the plan.
Medvedev, who served as the country’s president from 2008 to 2012, visited Kunashiri Island among the four Japan-claimed isles in November 2010, becoming the first Russian president to visit the disputed territory.
Kyodo
24/7/15
Japan urges Russian prime minister not to visit disputed isles...
DeleteJapan has urged Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev not to visit Japan-claimed islands off Hokkaido, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday, calling the planned trip to the isles at the center of a long-standing bilateral dispute “unacceptable.”
The planned visit, seen by experts as underlining Moscow’s intention to reassert its control of the four islands, comes at a time when Tokyo and Moscow are making preparations for President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Japan later this year.
Kishida said at a news conference that the visit, if it takes place, would “go against Japan’s position on the territories and hurt the feelings of the Japanese people.”
The Japanese Embassy in Moscow conveyed Tokyo’s concern Thursday to the Russian Foreign Ministry and called for Medvedev not to make the visit, he said............Kyodo