Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Saturday they intend to develop trust-based dialogue between the countries, after a territorial dispute recently soured relations.
"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."
"I hope that today's meeting will mark the beginning of full-scale dialogue with you [Russia] based on mutual trust," he continued.
Earlier this month, Medvedev aggravated a long-standing dispute over four of the Kuril Islands, called the Northern Territories by the Japanese, by becoming the first Russian or Soviet leader to visit one of them.
Both countries have laid claims to the islands since they were occupied by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II and the dispute has prevented them from signing a peace treaty to formally end World War II hostilities.
YOKOHAMA, November 13 (RIA Novosti)
