Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will meet with Russia's outgoing and incoming presidents on Saturday to seek Moscow's support for a new global initiative to reduce greenhouse gases. The meeting will briefly touch on a longstanding territorial dispute over four islands in the Pacific. Japan, hosting this year's Group of Eight summit on Hokkaido, is focused on finding a more effective replacement for the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which ends in 2012. Fukuda's main goals for the visit are to build trust with President Putin and president-elect Medvedev and to prepare for the upcoming G8 summit. Tokyo is optimistic that the G8 summit will facilitate the creation of a climate change agreement that includes major polluters like the United States, China, and India, who have not agreed to the emissions limits set by the Kyoto Protocol. Russia, a G8 member, is one of the few emerging economies that has committed to the Kyoto Protocol. Japanese officials are hopeful that Russia will support a new agreement in Hokkaido. The disputed islands, referred to as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, are located near the G8 summit site in Hokkaido. Personal relationships have been strained between Russia and Japan since Soviet troops seized the disputed islands in the last days of World War Two. Both countries have not recognized each other's sovereignty over the islands, which has hindered the signing of a treaty to end wartime hostilities. Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda plans to push Russian leaders to speed up negotiations to resolve the territorial dispute. A senior Japanese government official stated that Fukuda will stress the importance of advancing negotiations in order to improve bilateral relations. While Russia has expressed willingness to discuss the issue, they have not shown any indication of being willing to relinquish control of the islands. A Kremlin official stated that their position remains unchanged and they do not anticipate any significant progress in talks with Fukuda. Trade between Russia and Japan reached $20 billion in 2007, driven by companies like Toyota Motor Corp that have established factories in Russia to take advantage of its growing market. However, trade volume is much lower compared to that of Russia's main trading partner, the European Union. Japan believes it is a suitable partner to assist Russia in realizing its goal of developing the Far East region, which is abundant in energy resources but sparsely populated. Companies from Japan have invested in large oil and gas ventures on Sakhalin Island in Russia's Pacific region, and there is currently a pipeline being built to transport oil from eastern Siberia to the Pacific coast in the future.