Visiting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Losyukov told Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on Tuesday that he wants to discuss the agenda for a bilateral "action plan" of cooperation measures during their talks this week, according to a Foreign Ministry official.

Japan and Russia have agreed to adopt such a plan to somehow keep their bilateral relationship active during the lull in their dispute over the sovereignty of a group of islands off Hokkaido.

Losyukov, who is in Japan for vice ministerial talks to be held Wednesday, also agreed with Kawaguchi that the timing of her visit to Russia should be decided during her talks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov next week.

Kawaguchi and Ivanov are set to meet in Brunei on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is set to sign the action plan with President Vladimir Putin on a visit to Russia in December or January.

Since Losyukov is scheduled to join Ivanov for his visit to North Korea later this week after leaving Japan, Kawaguchi asked him to tell Pyongyang that it should respond positively to "various problems Japan is raising." Japan has been calling on North Korea to resolve the issue of Japanese citizens allegedly abducted by North Korean agents.

Kawaguchi and Losyukov did not go into deep discussions about the row over the four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido, but Kawaguchi noted the importance of moving forward in the talks and Ivanov agreed to continue discussing the matter, the official said.