Prime Minister Naoto Kan met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on May 27 in the French seaside resort of Deauville shortly after a two-day Group of Eight summit held there. No substantive development came out of the meeting concerning a long-standing bilateral territorial dispute, except that Mr. Kan and Mr. Medvedev agreed to continue to discuss the issue.
Mr. Kan told a news conference that he and the Russian president agreed that talks on the territorial issue should be continued in a calm environment.
In the meeting, Mr. Kan expressed his regret that since Mr. Medvedev's Nov. 1 visit to Kunashiri Island — one of the four islands off Hokkaido claimed by Japan and held by Russia — Russian high-ranking officials have continued to visit what Japan calls the Northern Territories. With his Kunashiri visit, Mr. Medvedev became the first leader of the Soviet Union or Russia to set foot on any of the disputed islands.
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