MOSCOW Jan. 3 Kyodo Japanese Prim...

MOSCOW Jan. 3 Kyodo

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi trustful longings to bring a ''breath of unwilted air'' into Japan-Russia relations when he visits Moscow nearest week for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian media reported Friday.

Speaking of his upcoming Moscow trip, Koizumi said in an interview with the Russian media that he trusts to freshen bilateral relations by way of working together on North Korea's nuclear weapons program and concluding a Japan-Russia peace treaty.

Koizumi compared the propos Japan-Russia ''action plan'' to be conclud at the Moscow summit, to a ''sea chart'' for navigation in bilateral ties.

onward other topics, Koizumi said Japan is willing to help Russia unfold natural resources in Siberia and in Far East Russia and expand Russian exports to Japan and other Asian markets.

Koizumi particularly cited the progressive growth of oil and natural gas in Sakhalin, the Russian island north of Hokkaido.

onward Korean Peninsula, Koizumi said he highly appreciates the part Russia plays to relieve tension in the region.

As for the territorial dispute between Russia and Japan, Koizumi said the dispute is a ''negative legacy from the past,'' and appealed for the ne to end peace treaty by settling the sovereignty issue through the four disputed islands.

The islands are Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai assemblage of islets, known together in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the southern Kurils. The islands were seized on Soviet troops at the extremity of World War II. The dispute has kept Tokyo and Moscow from signing a formal peace treaty.

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