Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday arrived in the Southern Kuril island of Kunashir, with his plane touching down at Mendeleyevo Airport. The premier visited the port, some industrial sites and social facilities, including the local hospital. The disputed Southern Kuril Islands fell under Soviet control after World War II and have since been considered Russian territory. Tokyo, however, claims the islands -- known as the Northern Territories by the Japanese -- belong to Japan. Earlier on Tuesday, at a meeting on the Sakhalin region's socioeconomic development, Medvedev said that it is a very important area for government members to visit. "I would like to stress that I deem it very important that members of the government visit the Kurils. We did so before and we'll continue this practice, with the new government -- the reasons for that are obvious - it's an important part of the Sakhalin region and just an important part of our Russian soil." He also said the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk No. 1 heat and power plant should be modernized as a matter of priority. "Particular attention should be paid to modernizing South Sakhalin Heat and Electric Power Plant Number One, as well as the power grid in Sakhalin. I would like for the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry for Development of the Far East, the Ministry of Economic Development, when working on a new version of the federal dedicated program of economic and social development of the <b>...</b> Длительность: 8:34
Скриншоты к видео July 3, 2012 Russia_Medvedev arrives in Southern Kuril Islands
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday talked to reporters after a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh in Moscow. He said that Russia finds the reactions to the conference from some Syrian opposition groups and some Western powers regrettable. "Unfortunately, some members of the Syrian opposition began to proclaim that the Geneva accords were not acceptable for them, and in parallel, some Western participants of the Geneva conference began to distort the achieved accords in their public statements", he said. He also said that Russia will not participate in a meeting of the Friends of Syria group, but will attend a meeting with the Syrian opposition, to be held in Cairo. The Russian foreign minister also commented on the Japanese reaction to Prime Minister Medvedev's visit to the Southern Kuril Islands in Russia's Sakhalin Region. Tokyo claims the islands belong to Japan. Lavrov said he does not think Russia should react to Japanese protests against the visit and that the two countries should co-operate in working towards signing a peace treaty. Without it they are technically still at war, following World War II. "We should move towards the Peace Treaty not through periodically resumed protests on occasions or without an occasion, but through implementing the accords achieved at the summit level between the leaders of the Russian Federation and Japan on deepening the interaction in absolutely all the spheres of the bilateral co-operation and <b>...</b> Длительность: 6:06
Скриншоты к видео July 3, 2012 Russia_Russia, Japan should co-operate toward peace treaty -- Lavrov
Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev arrived in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Sakhalin Island on Tuesday, where he visited a district hospital. In Sakhalin Regional Hospital, Medvedev looked around the diagnostic department, neurology department and an operating room. After touring the hospital, the prime minister spoke with the doctors working there and discussed the issue of wages. The Great Day of Annihilation www.facebook.com Длительность: 2:42
Скриншоты к видео July 3, 2012 Russia_Russian prime minister visits Sakhalin hospital