Russia's Medvedev to meet Japan's PM during APEC summit

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has arrived in Japan for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held November 13-14 in Yokohama.

At the summit, Medvedev is scheduled to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan despite a recent diplomatic spat between Moscow and Tokyo over the Kuril Islands, RIA Novosti reports.

"A meeting between President Dmitry Medvedev and the Japanese Prime Minister is being planned on the sidelines of the APEC summit," Kremlin spokeswoman Natalya Timakova Timakova told reporters. "We are coordinating the time."

Medvedev on Nov. 1 became the first Russian leader to visit one of four islands called the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan claimed by both countries. Kan this week said he hoped to meet with Medvedev, saying he would "emphasize" that the islands belong to Japan.

The Soviet Union seized the islands six miles (10 kilometers) from Japan's Hokkaido Island at the end of World War II, and the sovereignty dispute has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a formal peace treaty. About 10,300 people live on the disputed islands, with 7,100 of them on Kunashir, the site of Medvedev's trip, according to the Kremlin, Bloomberg says.