Russian, Japanese leaders to meet amid disputed islands row

AFP - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev plans to meet Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in Yokohama this week but Moscow's position on disputed territory remains unchanged, Medvedev's spokeswoman said Friday.

"During such meetings Russia's position remains traditionally unchanged," spokeswoman Natalia Timakova told reporters on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Seoul.

Medvedev will go on from Seoul to Yokohama to take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit. The details of the upcoming meeting with Kan are now being agreed.

Medvedev infuriated Japan this month by making the first trip by a Russian leader to one of four Pacific islands at the heart of the territorial dispute.

The Russian president -- who stayed on Kunashir Island for less than four hours -- caused the worst diplomatic spat between the two countries in years amid fragile attempts to expand economic contacts.

The dispute over the Kuril islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan, has prevented the signing of a post-war peace treaty.