Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's planned visit to four disputed Pacific islands has rekindled an age-old burning debate between Japan and Russia that has failed to be amicably resolved despite numerous declarations and treaties since the end of World War II.

Medvedev has said recently that the four disputed islands, known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, are "an important region of our country" and he would "visit them in the near future without fail."

His remarks were deemed provocative by Tokyo as no Russian head of state has ever visited these islands, which were occupied by Soviet troops in 1945 and are currently under Russian control.

"The dispute over sovereignty in short is largely concerned with the somewhat ambiguous San Francisco Peace Treaty between the Allied Powers and Japan inked in 1951," Dr. David McLellan, a professor on Asian Studies at Waseda University, told Xinhua.

"The treaty states that Japan must give up its claims to the Kuril Islands, but recognition of sovereignty over the islands was not given to the Soviet Union either and therein lies the conflict," said the professor.

"For Russia's part they believe sovereignty was recognized long before the 1951 treaty, at the end of the Second World War," while Japan believes these islands are a part of its Nemuro Subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, McLellan said.

Flames fanned as relations cool

Fanning the flames of conflict between Moscow and Tokyo was Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara who summoned Russian Ambassador Mikhail Bely over Medvedev's remarks.

The ambassador was told that Russia's true intentions were "questionable" and that a visit to islands by Medvedev would "seriously hinder Japan-Russia relations."

Moscow was quick to fire back, saying that Tokyo's reaction was wholly unjustified and unreasonable.

Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the Russian State Duma's international affairs committee, regarded the statement by Japanese new foreign minister as "inappropriate and tough."

Tokyo's claim on the disputed status of the Kuril Islands may only drive the situation into a deadlock, he said.

Kosachyov said the Kuril Islands have been and will be an integral part of Russia, and therefore the president and its other citizens have every reason to visit these islands without the consent of any outside party, "including Japan."

Kosachyov said he is confident that Medvedev will visit the Kuril Islands as soon as the weather allows.

Kosachyov's view was echoed by Andrei Nesterenko, a spokesman for Russian foreign ministry, who said the Japanese comments on Medvedev's planned visit were "inappropriate and unacceptable."

"We consider it necessary to recall that these islands are a territory of the Russian Federation in accordance with international legal reality that emerged following the Second World War and enshrined in the UN Charter," said Nesterenko.

According to Russian daily Kommersant, the "renewed scandal" in Russian-Japanese relations indicated that the Southern Kurils issue was unlikely to be solved in the foreseeable future.