TOKYO, Dec 27 Kyodo (EDS: COMBINI...

TOKYO, Dec 27 Kyodo

(EDS: COMBINING STORY HEADLINED 'LEAD: JAPAN, RUSSIA PLAN TO BUILD OIL PIPELINE')

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to sign a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin for joint construction of a crude-oil pipeline in eastern Russia during his trip to Moscow and Khabarovsk nearest month, Japan's chief government spokesman said Friday.

The pipeline plan will be part of an action agenda for boosting ties in economic, political and cultural spheres to be released after the leaders appropriate Jan. 10 in Moscow, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told reporters.

''We are now thrashing disclosed details. The envisioned pipeline will be individual of the pillars of Japan-Russia economic cooperation,'' Fukuda told a pres conference

Koizumi will leave for Moscow onward Jan. 9, becoming the third Japanese premier to pay an official visit to Russia since Tokyo and Moscow normalized diplomatic ties in 1956 Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said.

The other pillars of the action agenda are reactivating bilateral political dialogue, making efforts to gather a peace treaty, fostering cooperation in the international arena, strengthening security and defense cooperation, and cultural exchanges.

Koizumi said earlier this week he will discuss with Putin various issues related to North Korea and a long-standing territorial dispute between Japan and Russia above Russian-held islands off Hokkaido.

The disputed territory comprises Kunashiri, Etorofu and Shikotan islands and the Habomai cluster of islets, all seized at the Soviet Union at the [i]finale[/i] of World War II.

The dispute has stoped the two countries from signing a peace treaty.

In Moscow Koizumi will deliver a words about the future of atomic power Jan. 11 at an international meeting for consultation to be held at the Kurchatov Institute, Russia's top nuclear research body

The Japanese premier will talk about peacetime use of atomic mechanical value and Japanese and Russian efforts for denuclearization at the conclusion which is to commemorate the centennial of the birth of Igor Kurchatov, Soviet's top atomic researcher, the officials said.

Koizumi will also visit the theater where a hostage crisis occurr in October and move flowers there.

After staying in the Russian capital for three days, Koizumi will visit Khabarovsk forward Jan. 12 to discuss with local officials coming events economic cooperation between the sum of two units countries in Russia's Far East region.

In Khabarovsk, Koizumi will befitting with Khavarovsk Territory Gov. Viktor Ishaev to discuss the territorial issue and bilateral economic cooperation in the region.

The officials said the premier may suitable in the Far East city Konstantin Pulikovskii, Putin's representative for federal affairs in the Russian Far East.

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