Mori meets Putin on disputed islands

The Japanese prime minister, Yoshiro Mori, has begun talks in the Siberian city of Irkutsk with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

Their discussions are focussing on a continuing territorial dispute -- Japan wants Russia to return four small islands which it seized at the end of the Second World War. In 1998, the two countries agreed to resolve the dispute by the end of 2000, but they failed to do so. The BBC Tokyo correspondent says there's little prospect of progress ; President Putin has shown little inclination to make territorial concessions which would antagonise nationalists, while Mr Mori is expected to be replaced as prime minister shortly. The two leaders will also visit a cemetery where some of the ashes of Mr Mori's father are buried.

Mr Mori senior was a local politician who devoted many years to improving Japanese relations with Russia.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service