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Mr Putin welcomed Mr Koizumi’s plan to visit Pyongyang in the middle of September. He stressed Russia’s interest in the normalisation of relations between Japan and North Korea.

At Mr Koizumi’s request, Mr Putin described his recent meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il in Vladivostok. Mr Putin and Mr Koizumi exchanged opinions on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and future prospects for inter-Korean settlement. They stressed that an improvement of the situation in North East Asia could contribute to the establishment of economic cooperation and implementation of large-scale projects, such as the restoration of the Trans-Korean Railway and linking it with the Trans-Siberian Railway.

They also discussed bilateral relations through the lens of preparations for a visit by the Japanese Prime Minister to Moscow scheduled for next year.