VZCZCXRO3938
PP RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #3584/01 3461511
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111511Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1093
INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 4204

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 003584 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.  12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV OREP RS JA
SUBJECT: MFA Discusses the Kiril Islands with Codel Rohrabacher 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  Visiting Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R, CA) 
met with Russian MFA's Director of Asia-Pacific Regions Mikhail 
Galuzin on December 6 to discuss the Kiril Islands dispute between 
Russia and Japan.  The Congressman presented to Galuzin his proposed 
 
solution to the dispute, while Galuzin outlined current Russian 
perspectives on the issue.  According to Galuzin, the dispute is a 
bilateral issue, and no discussion can take place without addressing 
 
the competing sovereignty claims.  He complained that while Russia 
wished to expand the Russo-Japanese bilateral relationship despite 
the territorial dispute, Japan saw the resolution of the dispute as 
a 
precondition to further cooperation in other areas of common 
interest.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a December 6 meeting with MFA's Director of Asia-Pacific 
 
Regions Department Mikhail Galuzin, Representative Dana Rohrabacher 
 
(R-California) expressed concern that China could pose a common 
threat to Russian and U.S. interests in the future.  In his view, if 
 
left unchecked, China would continue to support rogue states around 
 
the world and eventually try to take over Siberia and areas of 
Russian influence.  He therefore argued for the creation of an 
alliance between the United States, Russia, Japan, and India against 
 
possible Chinese threats, and the first step in achieving this goal 
 
should be the improvement of bilateral relations between Russia and 
 
Japan. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In this regard, Representative Rohrabacher put forth a 
proposal to resolve the Kiril Islands/Northern Territories dispute 
between the two countries.  The plan would set aside the sovereignty 
 
question for a hundred years and create a free trade zone for the 
four islands and their surrounding waters.  Both Russian and 
Japanese 
citizens could freely do business or take up residence on the 
islands, and the territories would be governed by a condominium 
system.  At the end of the hundred-year period, a referendum by the 
 
island residents would determine the political status of the 
territories.  Rohrabacher indicated that while the MFA was the first 
 
to receive this proposal in writing, he had discussed this idea with 
 
the Japanese ambassador in Washington.  He also had discussions 
about 
China with Prime Minister Aso, who was receptive to the idea of 
India, Russia, Japan, and the United States working together on the 
 
challenges that China posed. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Galuzin responded that the Russian government considered 
 
China a strategic partner and preferred to work through inclusive 
collective organizations in the Asian Pacific region rather than 
blocs or alliances with limited membership.  He said that  excluding 
 
countries from regional arrangements would raise suspicions and harm 
 
the cooperative atmosphere in the region.  He praised Representative 
 
Rohrabacher for being a good friend of Russia and welcomed his 
efforts to help mediate the territorial dispute between Russia and 
Japan.  However, he emphasized that while the GOR was always open to 
 
new ideas, discussions on this issue could not be separated from the 
 
jurisdictional claims.  For Russia, the islands were not just dots 
on 
a map, but integral parts of how Russia assessed the outcome of 
World 
War II, which remained a sensitive and emotional issue.  The legal 
basis for the Russian claim of sovereignty over the four Southern 
Kiril islands was the Yalta Conference of 1945, from which the 
agreements between the United States, the Soviet Union, and the 
United Kingdom still remained in force. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Emphasizing that Russia considered the territorial 
dispute 
to be a bilateral issue, Galuzin provided an overview of the 
discussions between the two governments to date.  While both were 
unwilling to compromise on their sovereignty claim to all four 
disputed islands, there had been attempts over the years to improve 
 
 
MOSCOW 00003584  002 OF 002 
 
 
the atmosphere surrounding the islands.  Russian residents of the 
islands were allowed visa-free travel to Japan, and Japanese 
citizens 
could do the same to visit the islands.  Japanese fishermen 
continued 
to fish in waters off the islands in accordance with an annual 
bilateral agreement on the volume and type of fish set aside for 
them.  Galuzin indicated that the Russian government would very much 
 
welcome Japanese business presence on the islands, but admitted that 
 
since Russia wanted such business ties developed according to 
Russian 
legislation governing investments on the Kiril Islands, the Japanese 
 
side would not take up such an offer for fear of compromising its 
sovereignty claims. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Galuzin complained that the Japanese government had been 
 
hindering progress on additional cooperative measures regarding the 
 
islands, as well as the expansion of bilateral relations, pending 
the 
resolution of the sovereignty issue.  He asserted that such an 
approach was misguided and missed opportunities for cooperation in 
areas of common interest such as energy security, trade, and counter 
 
terrorism.  Pointing out that the two-way trade volume between 
Russia 
and Japan was now at $30 billion year to date, and all Japanese car 
 
makers had manufacturing presence in Russia, he stated that the 
resolution of the territorial dispute should not be a precondition 
for developing a potentially mutually beneficial relationship. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Comment:  Galuzin took over the reins of the Asia-Pacific 
 
Regions Department at the MFA two and half months ago, after a stint 
 
as the Charge d'Affaires in Tokyo.  He is a long time Japan hand, 
has 
an unassuming manner, and speaks fluent English. 
¶8.  (U)  The delegation did not have an opportunity to clear this 
message. 
Rubin