Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Monday to revive talks on an island dispute that has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty to formally end World War II.
The leaders "will respectively instruct their foreign ministries to accelerate negotiations to work out a solution acceptable to both countries over the peace treaty issue," they said in a joint statement released after the meeting at the Kremlin.
Abe and Putin also agreed to enhance bilateral economic ties, with Japan aiming to secure Russian energy resources at cheaper prices at a time when it is struggling to offset the loss of nuclear energy caused by the Fukushima disaster by relying on thermal power plants.