Russian FM visits Japan amid lingering territorial dispute
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-31 08:55

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Japan on a two-day visit to lay the groundwork for President Vladimir Putin's Japan visit later this year.

Lavrov will meet with his Japanese couterpart Nobutaka Machimura later in the day as the two nations struggle to iron out a territorial dispute stemming from the World War II over the Russian-held Kuril isles.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) shakes hands with his Japanese counterpart Nobutaka Machimura over the table at the start of talks in Tokyo May 31, 2005. Lavrov arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday for a two-day visit to discuss with Japanese officials a decades-old territorial row and the timing of a visit to Japan by President Vladimir Putin. [Reuters]

Russia has suggested handing two of the four islands -- seized by Soviet troops in the final days of the war -- to Japan, in return for the signing of a formal World War II peace treaty.

Japan, however, has insisted that all the islands must be returned.

Few expect an immediate solution, but Machimura called for mutual compromises in a newspaper interview published earlier this month.

"If the two countries are to reach an agreement, that would mean both would have to compromise something," Machimura told the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

The two foreign ministers are also expected to discuss Japan's bid to secure a permanent UN Security Council seat as well as six-nation talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programme.

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