Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday that Japan will stick to original plans to prepare for a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin early nextyear despite his tour near the disputed northern islands.

"Our policy that we will continue to prepare for President Putin's Japan visit next year has not changed," Kyodo News quoted the premier as saying at his office.

Aboard a Coast Guard ship, Koizumi viewed the islands off northern Hokkaido Prefecture last week. A Russian diplomat in Tokyo reportedly warned that Putin could postpone his visit planned likely for next February if the voices for return of the islands grow in Japan.

"The Japanese government has been consistent in its policy of seeking to resolve the issue of where the northern islands belong and to conclude a peace treaty soon, and the Russian side knows it,so we hope Russia will realize Putin's Japan visit in line with that direction," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said at apress conference.

The islands, known in Japan as Kunashiri, Etorofu and Shikotan,and the Habomai islet group and as the Southern Kurils in Russia, are located near the Hokkaido Prefecture and were taken by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.

Japan has been claiming the sovereignty of the islands and pressuring for a return. The issue remains as the centerpiece to prevent Japan and Russia from reaching a peace treaty.

The Japanese government decided last month to put as priority the settlement of the disputed islands in the negotiation for a peace treaty, turning away from a downplaying stance as the two were ratcheting up economic activities.

Analysts said the shift signaled that the Japanese government is concerned that a softer approach could delay an early settlement of the issue. Meanwhile, Koizumi wants to find a new diplomatic breakthrough when the talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is faltering.

Source: Xinhua