Japan opens visa office on Sakhalin

Japan is due to open a consular office today on the island of Sakhalin off the Pacific coast of Russia in a move which implements agreements on regional economic co-operation reached at a Russian-Japanese summit in Siberia last month.

At the meeting, the Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, and the Japanese prime minister, Ryutaro Hashimoto, also agreed to open talks on a peace-treaty formally ending the Second World War.

The treaty must settle the status of four Russian-held islands neighbouring Sakhalin which are claimed by Japan.

Correspondents say Russia is eager for investment in the improverished Pacific region of Siberia.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service