Arriving in Moscow, Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed hopes of finding common ground in talks with President Vladimir Putin concerning North Korea's nuclear ambitions among other issues of bilateral interest. With regard to Pyongyang's defiant stance over its nuclear efforts, Tokyo is poised to call for Moscow's support in persuading the Stalinist North to renounce its nuclear plans.

Before his departure, Koizumi also voiced plans to secure the Kremlin's assistance in concluding an emotional tug-of-war with Pyongyang over the abduction of several Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s.

Observers say the outcome of the summit will largely depend on the two leaders ability to handle their half-a-century-old border dispute, in which Japan is requesting for the return of several small islands off its northernmost shores that were occupied by Soviet troops in the last days of the second World War. The conflict has reportedly kept the two countries from sealing a peace treaty.

(Arirang TV)