Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has ordered the country's ambassador in Moscow to collect information on "the situation in Russia" over President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to the Kuril Islands, Japanese NHK TV-channel said.
Medvedev became the first Russian president to visit one of the four disputed Kuril Islands, called the Northern Territories by Japan, on Monday. Both Russia and Japan have laid claim to the islands since they were occupied by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.
Kan ordered Masaharu Kono, who was temporarily recalled from his post on Tuesday over the row, to "increase his gathering of information and analysis of the development of the situation in Russia."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Kan were due to meet at the Asia Pacific (APEC) summit in on November 13-14 in the Japanese city of Yokohama, but Kan said on Tuesday that he was not sure the meeting would go ahead. The Japanese ambassador to Russia said the talks are likely to take place.
The row over the islands has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a peace treaty to formally end World War II hostilities.
TOKYO, November 3 (RIA Novosti)
