Japan, Russia agree to future economic cooperation ahead of leaders' summit

Japan and Russia agreed to work cooperatively towards future economic activities in talks held Thursday in preparation for a planned meeting between the leaders of the two countries to be held in late April.

Japan's Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama and Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov both said at the outset of their meeting that recent high-level exchanges between both countries had been welcomed.

Earlier this month, Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, agreed to continue bilateral cooperation in a number of areas including defense, with both sides eyeing future economic collaborations.

The two sides also confirmed the meeting to be held between the two country's leaders late next month and attention was given to bilateral negotiations to conclude a post-World War II peace treaty.

Japan and Russia both claim a group of islands off Japan's northern prefecture of Hokkaido, called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia.

The decades-old territorial spat has prevented the two countries from signing a post-World War II peace treaty and hindered diplomatic and trade relations between the two countries. Enditem