Putin to hold bilateral meeting with Japan's Koizumi at G8 summit

President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will hold bilateral talks during this July's G8 summit in St. Petersburg, a Japanese embassy official said Tuesday.

MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will hold bilateral talks during this July's G8 summit in St. Petersburg, a Japanese embassy official said Tuesday.

Yoshitaka Akimoto also said Japan's foreign minister would hold bilateral meetings with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko, who also chairs the Russian-Japanese intergovernmental committee.

Russia holds the rotating G8 presidency in 2006. The St. Petersburg summit is scheduled for July 15-17.