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 territorial dispute over four islands in the Pacific, but the main focus will be on finding a more effective replacement for the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which expires in 2012. Fukuda's visit aims to establish a personal relationship of trust with President Putin and president-elect Medvedev, and to prepare for the upcoming G8 summit in Hokkaido, Japan. Tokyo is looking forward to the G8 summit as an opportunity to create a climate change agreement that includes major polluters like the United States, China, and India, who have not agreed to the limits on emissions set by the Kyoto Protocol. Russia, a member of the G8, has committed to the Kyoto Protocol, and Japanese officials are hopeful that Moscow will also support a new agreement in Hokkaido. The contentious islands, known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, are located near the G8 summit venue in Hokkaido. Personal relations between Russia and Japan have been strained since the Soviet troops seized disputed islands in the final days of World War Two. Neither side has recognized the other's sovereignty over the islands, hindering the signing of a treaty to officially end wartime hostilities. Prime Minister Fukuda plans to encourage Russian leaders to expedite discussions to resolve the territorial dispute in order to improve bilateral relations. Despite Russia's willingness to negotiate, they have not shown any indication of relinquishing control of the islands. A Kremlin official stated that their position remains unchanged and they do not anticipate any progress in the talks with Fukuda. Trade between Russia and Japan reached $20 billion in 2007, driven by companies like Toyota Motor Corp establishing a factory to access the growing Russian market. However, trade with Japan is significantly lower than trade with the European Union, Russia's largest trading partner. Japan believes it can assist Russia in developing its Far East region, which is rich in energy resources and sparsely populated. Japanese companies have invested in large oil and gas projects on Sakhalin Island in Russia's Pacific region, and there is ongoing construction of a pipeline that will transport oil from eastern Siberia to the Pacific coast.