Russia, Japan consult over peace treaty, territorial disputes

MOSCOW - Senior Russian and Japanese diplomats held consultations here Monday over a peace treaty and territorial disputes.

During the talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov and his visiting Japanese counterpart Shinsuke Sugiyama "discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral ties" in light of agreements reached by the two countries' leaders, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an online statement.

The two sides exchanged views on organizing negotiations on the peace treaty, and agreed to arrange a further round of talks via diplomatic channels, the statement said.

Russia and Japan are in dispute over four small islands called the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan. The dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty since the end of the World War II.

Following an April meeting in Moscow between President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the two sides pledged to speed up talks on concluding a peace treaty.

Meanwhile, Moscow and Tokyo intend to strengthen economic and trade cooperation, the statement said.