TOKYO The new Japanese government opposes any step-by-step return by Russia of four disputed Kurile Islands, AFP quoted Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka as saying on Tuesday.

Tanaka's comment came in response to recent television comments by former Japanese prime minister, Yoshiro Mori, that Japan and Russia had reached an agreement at working group meetings in April under which the return of the islands of Shikotan and Habomai would be negotiated before the fate of the other two islands is considered.

The four islands were occupied by Russian troops in 1945 at the end of World War II. Japan regards all four as part of its northern territories.

On Monday in Moscow, Russian Prime Minister Michail Kasyanov confirmed that Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during their summit in March in the Russian city of Irkutsk, had discussed the possibility of returning the islands a step at a time. However, the Russian news agency Interfax quoted the Foreign Ministry in Moscow as saying no agreement had been reached.

Tanaka said that despite Mori's comments on television, she had heard nothing from officials in the Tokyo Foreign Ministry about any agreement.

Putin and Mori said at the end of their March summit that they hoped soon to clear the way for a peace treaty between the two countries.