FACTBOX: Key issues in Japan-Russia relations

(Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and president-elect Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on Saturday for talks.

Below is a list of key issues that could be discussed:

TERRITORIAL DISPUTE

A dispute over four sparsely populated islands in the Pacific has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a peace treaty ending World War Two and overshadowed relations for more than 60 years.

The islands, known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, were seized by the Soviet Union after it declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945, forcing about 17,000 Japanese residents to flee.

Most people in the islands depend on fishing for their livelihood and Japan, a major fish consumer, would gain rich fishing grounds if the islands were returned. The islands are also close to oil and gas production regions of Russia.

OIL PIPELINE

Russia is building an oil pipeline that will eventually link fields in eastern Siberia to the energy-hungry markets of the Far East and the Pacific basin.

There is competition between Japan and China over which will receive the lion's share of crude from the pipeline.