KURILSK /Iturup island/, August 22. /TASS/. Russia wants to maintain friendly relations with Japan but the country’s officials will continue visiting the Kuril Islands, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told journalists on Saturday.

"We are well disposed towards Japan but this is in no way related to the Kuril Islands, which are part of the Russian Federation and constituent territory of Russia’s Sakhalin region," Medvedev said, adding that Russian officials’ visits to the Kuril Islands would continue.