Tokyo on Friday received an sign from Moscow that Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's official visit to Russia may take place as scheduled, Foreign Ministry officials said.Obuchi's visit from Nov. 10 to Nov. 13 was put in doubt earlier this week when it was announced that Russian President Boris Yeltsin would go on two-week vacation, apparently due to bad health.On Friday, however, Japanese sources quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin as telling his Japanese counterpart, Minoru Tanba, that he thinks Obuchi's visit will surely take place as planned.Later in the day, ministry officials said, Karasin conveyed the same message to Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura at a separate meeting, stating that Yeltsin will respond to a new proposal for the resolution of the dispute over four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido.Komura will be visiting Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand from Monday to Saturday to exchange views on such issues as trade liberalization at the upcoming annual meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, ministry officials said Friday.
