Putin rejected the idea of ​​"selling the smokers more expensive"

Russia does not conduct any bargain when discussing the problem of the islands of the Kuril ridge. This was stated by President Vladimir Putin at a press conference following the Russia -ASEAN summit, Interfax reports .

"As for our relations with Japan and your thesis that we are ready to sell something more expensive. We are not selling anything. We are ready to buy a lot, but do not sell anything," Putin said, answering the journalist’s question if Russia wants to bargain with Japan in order to sell the smokers more expensive.

"We are ready and want dialogue with all our partners, including Japan, including the conclusion of a peace treaty, in the context of which the territorial issue is discussed. We do not associate one with another, we simply want to develop relations, including Japan," the president said.

Two southern Islands of the Big Kuril ridge, Kunashir and Iturup, are disputed by Japan. It was because of the unresolved issue of their territorial affiliation that Russia and Japan have not yet been able to conclude a peace treaty.

On February 22, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said that Russia intends to offer Japanese investors control packages of shares in large-scale oil and gas projects. Speaking about the prospect of Putin’s trip to Japan, the official made it dependent on whether a “significant package of agreements” on economic cooperation between the two countries will be pre -concluded.

Touching the Kuril problem, the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed the official point of view of Moscow, according to which the southern Kurils are Russian territory . At the same time, he assured that Russia is interested in the joint economic development of the archipelago with the participation of companies from Japan and other countries, and promised that an economic zone of a certain type would soon form there.

On March 25, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that to study the possibility of placing naval bases on the islands of the Big Kuril ridge, an expedition of the Pacific Fleet will go to this area. The minister emphasized that the military department in 2016-2020 will pay main attention to the development of military infrastructure in the Arctic zone and in the Kuril Islands.

In June last year, Shoigu ordered to double the pace of military and social construction on the Kurils. On July 23, at a government meeting, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that the Kuril Islands will perform an important defensive function , so both civil and military arrangement will actively develop there. “It is necessary to combine efforts, especially since the islands have been fulfilled and will perform not only the usual function, but also the function of protecting our borders, so such attention is paid to the presence of the units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation there,” Medvedev emphasized.