Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday condemned the latest nuclear test by North Korea as a "grave threat" to the region but remained at odds over the path toward its denuclearization.
Abe and Putin also agreed in talks on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok to conduct joint economic activities on disputed islands off Hokkaido in five areas: aquaculture, greenhouse farming, tourism, wind power and waste reduction.
Tokyo sees the initiative as paving the way toward resolving the long-standing territorial dispute over the islands and signing of a post-World War II peace treaty, while Russia hopes to attract investments to the underdeveloped region.