MOSCOW (Kyodo) Russo-Japanese talks are progressing over a proposal to let Japanese firms help Russia develop a Siberian oil field in connection with a project to lay a Pacific coast-bound pipeline, sources said Thursday.
The two governments are talking to clear the way for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Russian President Vladimir Putin to conclude the deal during a bilateral meeting in mid-July in St. Petersburg on the sidelines of this year's Group of Eight summit, the sources said.
Japan's offer is designed to ensure that Russia commits itself to building the eastern half of the projected 4,188-km pipeline so Siberian oil can be shipped to Japan, they said.