The Russian foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, has said it's highly unlikely that Russia will meet a deadline this year to finally sign a peace treaty with Japan.

Mr Ivanov said there was much work still to be done and that patient negotiations would have to continue.

The two countries have not signed a formal peace treaty since the end of the Second World War.

The authorities in Tokyo want Russia to return a group of islands to the north of Japan, which were seized at the end of the war by Soviet forces.

Three years ago Russian and Japanese leaders agreed to sign a peace treaty by the end of the year 2000.

Mr Ivanov is due to visit Japan later this week and he has just signed a new friendship pact with North Korea after talks in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service