The delegation includes
Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutskiy
Leonid Eduardovich
, coordinator
of the Interparliamentary Group on Interaction with the Parliament of Japan
Yevgenii Shulepov
Yevgenii Borisoviсh
, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Control and Regulations Oleg Nilov
Oleg Anatolievich
and First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans' Affairs Nikolai
Kolomeitsev
Nikolay Vasilievich
.
Yevgenii Shulepov called the signing of the document an important event for the two countries. “We have concluded a Parliamentary Memorandum on cooperation. Such an agreement has been reached for the first time in history,” he said.
The document was signed by chairmen of both “friendship groups”.
“I had the honor of signing it from the Russian side as coordinator of the Interparliamentary Group on Interaction with the Parliament of Japan in the State Duma. Our long-standing friend — chairman of the Japan-Russia Parliamentary Friendship Association Mr. [Ichiro] Aisawa, co-signed the document” Yevgenii Shulepov stressed.
As the parliamentarian said, the conclusion of the Interparliamentary Memorandum is one of the important steps towards signing of a peace treaty between our countries. The member of the State Duma said that the conclusion of the Memorandum was preceded by intensive work of all authorities.
“The excellent relations between the leaders of our countries made it possible to build diplomatic ties between governments, parliaments and political parties. But the most important thing is that regional diplomacy has unprecedentedly improved. Ties between nationals, regions, cities and prefectures, intellectuals, business communities have strengthened. I am convinced that the future of our bilateral relations is in strengthening horizontal ties. And, of course, our Memorandum will help it,” the parliamentarian believes.
In addition to the conclusion of the Memorandum, the Russian delegation held talks with leaders of the Government of Japan, leaders of political parties and business communities. They discussed issues of the development of economic cooperation, tourism, facilitation of the visa regime between the two countries, the establishment of new sister cities relations between the cities and prefectures. The main topic of the talks was discussion on the terms of a peace treaty.
This is not the first visit of members of the State Duma of the seventh convocation to Japan. The previous one took place in April during the tense period of the imposition of new sanctions against Russia. Our delegation held successful negotiations. As a result, Japan not only did not use sanctions pressure against Russia, but also sent 200 delegates to our country to pay a return visit and discuss specific issues of economic, cultural and business cooperation.
