Russia and Japan intend to pursue 'trust-based dialogue'

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan declared that they intend to develop a trust-based dialogue between the two countries, after a territorial dispute recently soured
relations, RIA Novosti reports.

"I expect that during the talks and other contacts, we will lay the basis for strengthening a trust-based dialogue between our states," Medvedev said at the beginning of his meeting with Kan in the Japanese city of Yokohama.

Kan said he "wanted to develop friendly relations between Russia and Japan on a basis of trust, as between two partners."

Medvedev aggravated a long-standing dispute over four of the Kuril Islands by visiting one of them earlier this month. Both countries have laid claims to the islands since they were occupied by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II. The dispute over the islands has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty to formally end World War II hostilities.