Japan and Russia on March 26 increased mutual understanding in their efforts to conclude a bilateral peace treaty at a vice ministerial level meeting in Tokyo, Foreign Ministry officials said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Minoru Tanba and his Russian counterpart, Grigorii Karashin, exchanged ideas on the possible contents of the treaty, the officials said, adding that the talks were very "beneficial." They declined to reveal details of the discussions.
The meeting was held in line with an agreement between Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and President Boris Yeltsin to conclude a peace treaty by the end of 2000. The agreement was reached at an informal summit in Krasnoyarsk in eastern Siberia last November.
Karashin, meanwhile, told Tanba that Yeltsin is determined to visit Japan next month for another informal summit despite a shakeup in the Russian government, they said.