The foreign ministers of Japan and Russia agreed Wednesday to further promote negotiations over joint economic projects on four disputed islands off Hokkaido ahead of a planned visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Moscow in May.
Taro Kono and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov called their three-hour meeting in Tokyo constructive, although they announced no specific progress.
"To achieve concrete results in Prime Minister Abe's possible trip to Russia in May, we discussed about many issues left between the two nations. Most importantly a peace treaty," Kono said.