Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and European Union leaders agreed Wednesday to speed up efforts to conclude a free trade agreement and cooperate on countering attacks in cyberspace.
"We will negotiate intensively while aiming to achieve a broad (trade) agreement in 2015," Abe said at a joint press conference after a summit with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at EU headquarters in Brussels.
Meeting amid tensions triggered by the civil strife in Ukraine, the leaders also condemned Russia's intervention in the country and called for dialogue with Moscow to seek a diplomatic solution.