"Now we have the possibility to fly to the Kurils," Medvedev said while on Sakhalin island, after initially telling journalists that bad weather would prevent the trip, cited by the Interfax news agency.

"I consider this a very important item on our programme," said Medvedev, who in November 2010 became the first Russian leader to visit the island chain, in a move that outraged Japan.

The two nations have never formally signed a World War II peace treaty because Japan maintains its claim over the islands, which Russia has controlled and tried to develop since Japan's surrender at the end of the war.

Tokyo claims the chain's four southernmost islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan, and the dispute continues to cast a cloud over Russian-Japanese relations and complicate investment and trade.

Medvedev on Monday visited the Russian Far East's main city of Vladivostok to oversee preparations for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that will be held on a nearby island in September.