国际英语新闻：Russian president visits Kuril Islands

MOSCOW, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday morning visited Kunashiri Island, one of the Russian-held islands also claimed by Japan, Russia's local media said.

Medvedev is the first leader from Russia or the former Soviet Union to travel to any of the disputed islands, which are called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia.

He arrived in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, capital of the Russian Far East province of Sakhalin, earlier in the day on the way back from his trip to Vietnam where he attended meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and left there aboard a plane for Kunashiri, the RIA Novosti said, quoting an official source.

The president was scheduled to visit a geothermal energy station, meet local residents and inspect several construction sites, the official said.

In September, Medvedev said that the four disputed Pacific islands "are an important region of our country" and he would "visit them in the near future without fail," whereas the Japanese side said Medvedev's possible visit would create "serious obstacles" in the bilateral relations.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on last Saturday that the president "independently determines the routes of travel across the country."

Lavrov stressed that the visit would not affect relations between the two countries.

Lavrov said he saw "no connection" between Medvedev's trip to Kuril Islands and the relations between the two countries, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The Kremlin has consistently claimed that it would be absurd to discuss with foreign states on the visit of Russian president to Kuril islands.

However, local media also quoted a source from presidential administration, saying that Moscow should appropriately consider Medvedev's trip, because the president was scheduled to attend the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Japan on Nov. 13 to 14.

The four disputed Pacific islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia, were occupied by Soviet troops in 1945 and are currently under Russian control.

Russia and Japan have long been at odds due to the territorial dispute over these islands, which has blocked a peace treaty between the two countries since the end of World War II.