The peace-treaty talks between Japan and Russia are off to a fresh start because Boris Yeltsin suddenly resigned as Russian president at the end of last year. Yeltsin had agreed at a Russo-Japanese summit meeting in 1997 that the two nations should "strive" to sign a long-pending peace pact by the end of 2000.
Acting President and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is expected to win the presidential election scheduled for March 26. However, we should wait and see how the election actually comes out and where the new Russian government will go. A settlement of the territorial dispute demands strong leadership at the highest level of government.
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi must start from scratch, so to speak, by building a relationship of trust with Russia's new leader. Then the Japanese government must continue patient talks with Moscow on the basis of the 1993 Tokyo Declaration, which calls for the conclusion of a peace treaty through resolution of the Northern Territories problem.