Kremlin Does Not Intend To Discuss Kurile Islands Issue At Russian-Japanese Summit Talks In Shanghai

Within the framework of the APEC summit in Shanghai President Vladimir Putin of Russia will meet Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi Sunday. According to the Kremlin administration spokesman, the sides are expected to discuss cooperation within the G-8 format and continue a bilateral political dialogue. The Japanese side is likely to raise the Kuriles issue. The RIA Novosti interlocutor said that Russia's stance is unchanged. "I don't think this topic will be discussed in detail in the course of this working meeting," the Kremlin representative said. "The Foreign Ministry and the joint commission for developing peace treaty and solving the problem of territorial demarcation are working. We expect no breakthroughs from the meeting," he stressed.