Yeltsin Delivers Regrets for Canceling 2 Earlier Dates : Diplomacy: Russian leader seeks to mend fences with Japan and promises an official visit to discuss territorial issues. Response by Miyazawa is favorable.

Forced by circumstances of world diplomacy to make a trip he twice put off, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin arrived in Japan on Thursday, offered his regrets for not coming earlier and promised “absolutely” to make an official visit as early as the fall.

On that trip, he promised Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, he will discuss a 48-year-old territorial dispute that has prevented the conclusion of a peace treaty to put a formal end to World War II for Japan and Russia. The differences have forestalled massive Japanese aid and investment to Russia.

Miyazawa responded favorably. But Japanese officials refused to make any predictions for an easing of the frictions between the two nations.

Yeltsin, accompanied by some of his Cabinet ministers, came here to urge leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations to remove trade barriers that discriminate against Russian goods and services and to seek implementation of billions in aid already pledged for his reforms.

When he meets today with G-7 leaders, Yeltsin plans to present a 20-minute speech outlining his vision for Russia’s economic “integration” with its former capitalist adversaries, Russian sources said.

But within minutes of landing in his presidential Ilyushin 62 jetliner at Haneda Airport, Yeltsin went to work to improve the single worst relationship Russia has with a leading economic power and neighbor.

In remarks on the tarmac under overcast skies, he declared that relations with Japan are one of his foreign policy priorities. He said he is confident that the two sides can “eliminate the obstacles of the past and achieve a peaceful normalization of our relations.”

His motive is obvious: Among the G-7 nations, Japan is the most skeptical about the effectiveness of massive international assistance to boost Yeltsin’s democratic and market-oriented agenda.

Yeltsin’s words, read from a one-page typewritten statement, went beyond diplomatic niceties--and had to. The Japanese were enraged when Yeltsin abruptly canceled a state visit last September just four days before he was scheduled to arrive; they were insulted again last spring when he initiated, then dropped an offer to visit in May.

The reason was the issue that dominates relations between the two countries: four islands off the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido that Soviet troops occupied at the end of World War II. Yeltsin last autumn blamed the cancellation of his trip on Japanese obstinacy in insisting that he recognize Tokyo’s ultimate sovereignty over the bits of territory.

Yeltsin’s message Thursday was wholly different as he tried to remind Japan’s leadership and its citizens that his domestic opposition--Communists and ultranationalists--would seize on any concession he might make as a sellout of Russia’s national interests.

“I regret that I could not, as had been earlier planned, come to Japan in September of last year,” he said. “I’m grateful to the Japanese government and the people of Japan for understanding the conditions that did not then allow the visit.

“It will be carried out--absolutely,” he vowed.

Yeltsin, accompanied by his wife Naina, did not attempt to explain his conduct last spring that reopened Japanese wounds. In April, he had astonished Japan by telling reporters that Miyazawa had “unequivocally dropped” Tokyo’s longtime linkage of improvement in Russian-Japanese relations with a solution to the territorial dispute. Not so, the Japanese said. Then in May, he announced that he was again “postponing” his first visit as Russia’s president to Japan.

Miyazawa, who for decades has made little effort to hide his animosity to the former Soviet Union and its treatment of about 600,000 Japanese prisoners of war--about 10% died in POW camps--told Yeltsin in the 35-minute meeting that his words at the airport were “a good message for the Japanese.”

A member of Yeltsin’s press staff, however, said only that his boss had agreed to consider a September or October visit.

In their official communique describing the Miyazawa meeting, the Russians mentioned no dates, or even the visit. There is a strong likelihood that the political struggle between Yeltsin and his foes in the anti-reform Congress of People’s Deputies will again be in full swing this September or October. Yeltsin could once again find himself unable to leave Russia for Japan.

In his airport remarks, Yeltsin said he is ready for “well-intentioned discussion of all problems”--his deep voice stressed the word “all.” He also said the territorial dispute must be resolved according to “legality and justice,” duplicating the jargon of Japanese diplomacy.

Japanese insist that Moscow, which broke its nonaggression treaty with Japan to declare war just seven days before World War II ended, seized the four northern islands illegally.

Miyazawa told Yeltsin he did not expect “instantaneous return” of the islands but added that “a step in that direction is important.”

In a private meeting last month with former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, however, Yeltsin was quoted as saying that any change in status of the islands that Russians call the Kurils would take at least 10 years. Such a decision would have to await the next generation of leaders, Yeltsin said, according to Russian officials.

Russia and the Rich

Russia, struggling to boost a second-rate economy, joined in the closing festivities of the summit. Here is how Russia compares to the richer nations in several vital areas:

Life GNP per capita Mean years of Population expectancy (U.S. dollars) schooling per doctor at birth Russia 69.3 $3,430 9.0 213 U.S. 75.9 21,810 12.3 419 Japan 78.6 25,840 10.7 663 Canada 77.0 20,380 12.1 455 France 76.4 19,590 11.6 320 Britain 75.7 16,080 11.5 700 Germany 75.2 22,360 11.1 380 Italy 76.0 16,880 7.3 234

Scientists Daily newspaper technicians per circulation per 1,000 people 1,000 people Russia na 286 U.S. 55 250 Japan 110 587 Canada 177 228 France 83 210 Britain na 395 Germany 84 390 Italy 82 107

What They’ve Done

Despite being downplayed in advance, the Tokyo summit has produced promises and results, including:

* Disclosure of a larger-than-expected $3-billion package to support Russia in its rapidly expanding efforts to repair its economy and shore up democratic reforms of its political system.

* An agreement to eliminate tariffs in eight economic sectors--pharmaceuticals, construction equipment, medical equipment, farm equipment, steel, furniture, distilled spirits and beer. It still must be ratified by dozens of other nations. But it was a breakthrough in the effort to revamp the world trade system.

* A political statement criticizing Iran for the first time, after prodding from the United States about Tehran’s exporting of terrorism, accumulation of weapons of mass destruction and abuse of its people’s human rights.

* A declaration that the G-7 nations would not accept a “dismembered” Bosnia-Herzegovina. But summit participants declined to commit themselves to any new Balkans action, a position that represents a softening from their previous stance.