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TASS
TOKYO, July 16. /TASS/. The reason why the mayor of the Japanese city of Nemuro, Shunsuke Hasegawa was excluded from the Japanese delegation who visited from 27 June to 1 July the southern Kuril Islands in the framework of exploring possibilities for joint economic activities have become the retaliatory measure of the Russian Federation, adopted after Japan decided on the introduction of sanctions against Russia because of the situation around Ukraine. This was reported on Sunday Agency Kyodo, citing diplomatic sources.
In March 2014, Tokyo in connection with the situation in Ukraine, in particular, has suspended consultations with Moscow on easing the visa regime and postponed indefinitely the start of talks on possible conclusion of three treaties, and later announced that it will not issue temporary visas 23 figures of the Russian government and other institutions. In response, the Japanese Ambassador in Moscow was handed a list of citizens of his country, for whom entry to Russia is now closed. The list of names was not published.
As suggested by the source Agency, the mayor of Nemuro was included in this list. However, the Japanese side on the basis of its position on non-recognition of the South Kuril Islands as Russian territory, tried to insist that research trip to the Islands is organized in the format of visa-free visits so that Hasegawa should be admitted to it. The Russian side allegedly, these arguments are not accepted.
The Japanese foreign Ministry the day before the visit of the Japanese delegation to the Southern Kuriles notified the mayor of Nemuro on the exclusion from the list of participants. It was reported that he was not provided with any explanation on this matter. A city legislative Assembly adopted a resolution of protest to the Japanese government.
As a result of Russian Islands in the delegation was visited by 69 people. The group, which included officials and representatives of business circles, visited Kunashir, Iturup and Shikotan, where he familiarized himself with the condition of the infrastructure and explore opportunities to implement joint projects. In total they were able to explore 64 facilities, including hospitals, power plants, sports centers and the construction of the hotel complex.
Expected consultations on the results of this trip with the Russian side at the level of Deputy foreign Ministers will be held in late August in Moscow. The agreement was reached following a meeting of Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Hamburg.