June 2005

1. At the Akasaka Prince Hotel on June 7 in Tokyo, under the joint auspices of the Committee on Cooperation to Assist the Destruction of Nuclear Weapons Reduced in the Russian Federation and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) of the United States, with support by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the G8 Global Partnership Tokyo Seminar for “making the world more secure” was held. Approximately one hundred twenty people participated in the seminar, not only interested parties from Japan and Russia, but also members of the G8, Norway, Australia, Korea, Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation (AMEC), NGOs, and the mass media.
2. At the conference, following the opening address by the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kawai, an ex-Senator of the United Sates, Senator Sam Nunn gave a keynote speech. The Japanese and Russian representatives of the General Affairs Commission, Ambassador Nomura and Mr. Antipov (Deputy Head of Federal Atomic Energy Agency), explained the present state of the denuclearization cooperation with Russia and the issues it is facing. Then a “Review of the Global Partnership” panel discussion was held with the frank exchange of opinions among interested countries and organizations, principally concerning the role the Global Partnership has had in promoting international security and cooperation. Following the afternoon presentation relating to the “cooperation for the dismantlement of Russian decommissioned nuclear submarines” and the “disposition of surplus plutonium” by representatives of interested countries and organizations, a general discussion including future prospects in the session named “Issues and the Future of the G8 Global Partnership” concluded the seminar.