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http://www.mosnews.com/politics/2009/05/08/1548/
Today, 10:57 PM
Ahead of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's meeting with the Japanese government, Russia has warned Tokyo not to pin hopes on the talks about the disputed islands.
"I would like to stress our readiness for a calm, constructive conversation on this topic and what's more important, without some sort of inflated expectations and therefore without disappointment," Yury Ushakov, a veteran diplomat and deputy head of Putin's staff, was quoted by AFP as saying Thursday.
"Expectations then cause major disappointments."
Putin is expected in Tokyo next week for a day of talks Tuesday with a high-powered delegation of top businessmen and officials.
He is scheduled to meet his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso as well as former premiers Junichiro Koizumi and Yoshiro Mori.
Japanese officials planned to raise their "favorite territorial problem", said Ushakov, and while Russia was ready to discuss any hypothetical scenarios it was important to avoid "extreme positions."
A decades-old territorial row over four Russian islands off Japan's northern Hokkaido island, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils, has long cast a shadow over the bilateral ties, AFP adds.
During the meeting, the two governments are expected to sign 10 government and commercial agreements during the visit, including on peaceful uses of nuclear energy and an agreement to build a wind power plant on the Russky island off Vladivostok on the Russian Pacific, the scene of an APEC summit in 2014.
A judo black belt, Putin would also unveil a Japanese language version of his book on the sport, Ushakov said.
Japan backs Russia's intention to make "energy window" to East –ambassador
http://www.interfax.com/3/492432/news.aspx
MOSCOW. May 8 (Interfax) - Japan is not planning to invest in the
construction of the branch of the Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO)
pipeline leading to Japan, Japanese Ambassador to Russia Masaharu Kono
said in an interview given before the visit by Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin to Japan, which is scheduled for May 11-13.
"As far as we understand, ESPO leading to Japan will be built
independently by the Russian company Transneft," said Kono.
"Of course, Japan is interested in this pipeline. We believe that
energy cooperation in the Far East and Eastern Siberia is strategic for
our countries. For Russia [it is strategic] because it can diversify the
direction of its energy supply, and for Japan - because it will be able
to diversify its energy sources," said Kono.
"The main thing is that Russia now intends to make an 'energy
window' to the East, to Asia, and on the other hand, Japan intends to
make a window from the East. Our interests coincide here, and that is
very important," said the ambassador.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: “Recent agreements reached by Azerbaijan and Armenia are promising” – EXCLUSIVE
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=101867
08 May 2009 12:09 ] 
Washington. Zaur Hasanov – APA. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with American experts dealing with Russia in Carnegie Foundation.
Answering APA correspondent’s question Sergei Lavrov took a stance on the statement issued by Minsk Group co-chairs on the Prague meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents.
“The Basic Principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been transmitted to Armenia and Azerbaijan in the fall of 2007 in Madrid. And those Basic Principles remain on the table. They have been accepted by both countries with certain exceptions related to three or four issues which is still to be finally agreed. The purpose of the current stage of negotiation process is to close the positions on these issues. I haven not obviously seen the report at what specifically was achieved the way of progress. But I hope that this momentum which has been reached after last meeting in November in Moscow and now in Prague, and both presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia accepted the invitation to come to Saint Petersburg economic forum,” Sergei Lavrov said.
“Within this forum, we will have opportunity to have another meeting. I believe that this momentum is encouraging and we keep our fingers crossed. But it is a quite process. It is not possible to discuss the details of what two presidents discussed but we are generally optimistic about the progress possibility on achieving the agreement,” he said.
Sergei Lavrov also said that Russia neither had double standard approach to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, nor dictated its position to the sides.
Finnish President Says Europe Must Cut Russia Energy Dependence
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aO8i_gg5fDmc
By Kati Pohjanpalo
May 8 (Bloomberg) -- European nations need to boost and diversify their domestic energy sources to reduce dependence on Russian imports, Finland’s President Tarja Halonen said.
“Finland and all the other European countries, we are too dependent on imported energy,” Halonen, 65, said in an interview in Helsinki yesterday afternoon. “We should be using a broader variety of energy resources.”
Russia’s reliability as an energy supplier came into question again in January, when the world’s biggest energy exporter halted gas supplies to Ukraine for two weeks due to a pricing dispute, disrupting transit shipments to at least 20 European countries. In 2006, Russia turned off all gas exports to Ukraine for three days and cut shipments by 50 percent in March 2008 during a spat between the two countries.
Europe depends on Russia for a third of its oil and more than 40 percent of its gas, most of which is carried through Ukraine. European Union countries in total import more than half of all energy they consume. Finland relies on Russia for two- thirds of its energy imports by value, including all of the natural gas it uses, according to Statistics Finland.
“I hope, we all in Europe hope, that we get a good, reliable system with Russia, because Russia is a very big energy deliverer,” Halonen said during the interview at the presidential palace in downtown Helsinki. “We also need more domestic energy resources” such as sun, wind and bio-thermal.
In Finland, the president is the head of state, while the prime minister runs the government from day-to-day. The president’s power stems from the fact that she steers foreign policy in cooperation with the government, appoints top-ranking civil servants such as the governor of the central bank and commands the armed forces. Halonen also represents Finland at some European Union summits.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kati Pohjanpalo in Helsinki at kpohjanpalo@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: May 8, 2009 02:16 EDT
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