首相交代でも平和条約目指す　岸田氏「経験豊富」とロ大統領

　【モスクワ時事】ロシアのプーチン大統領は２１日、日本で首相交代が続いても「日本とロシアの国民の関心は変わらない」と述べ、日本との平和条約締結を目指す姿勢を強調した。ただ、プーチン氏はかねて北方領土問題では譲歩せず、条約締結を目指す立場を堅持している。
　南部ソチで開かれた内外のロシア専門家が参加する「バルダイ会議」で、日ロ関係について問われて答えた。プーチン氏は、両国民の関心の根幹を成しているのは「平和条約締結に至るまで最終的な解決を目指すこと」だと指摘。「日本の政界で人が代わっても、われわれはこれを目指す」と語った。
　岸田文雄首相に関しては、今月７日に電話会談を行ったと述べた上で「非常に経験豊富な人物」と評価。対ロ外交に熱心だった安倍晋三元首相とも「政治的な意味でかなり近い」と話し、岸田氏が安倍氏の路線を継続することに期待を示した。（2021/10/22-06:28）

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday voiced his unwavering determination to aim for the conclusion of a peace treaty to formally end wartime hostilities between Japan and Russia, regardless of frequent changes of prime ministers in the Asian country.
   The interest of Japanese and Russian citizens will not change, Putin said at a meeting of experts in the southern Russian city of Sochi when asked to comment on Tokyo-Moscow relations after Fumio Kishida succeeded Yoshihide Suga as Japan's prime minister earlier this month.
   The eyes of people in the two countries are on the ultimate resolution leading up to the conclusion of the bilateral peace treaty, the president said, adding that the Russian government will aim to achieve such a goal even if there are personnel changes in the Japanese political world.
   Putin, however, has been adamant about his position to aim for the signing of the treaty without compromising on the two countries' long-standing territorial dispute over four northwestern Pacific islands, controlled by Russia and claimed by Japan.
   Tokyo and Moscow have been unable to conclude the treaty due to the row over the islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan, which were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of the war.