TOKYO—Russia and Japan agreed Friday to hold talks on joint economic development on four islands at the center of a decades-old territorial dispute between the countries.
It was a small step forward that fell far short of breaking the stalemate in a dispute that has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II.
Joint development “would help foster trust toward a peace treaty,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after meetings in Japan over two days.
Asked about developments in Syria, Putin said that he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are working to launch a new round of peace talks in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
For Putin, the summit meeting marked his first official visit to a G-7 country since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Abe, eager for progress on the territorial issue, invited Putin even though Japan and the other G-7 nations still have sanctions on Russia.
The dispute centers on four southern Kuril islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories. The Soviet Union took the islands in the closing days of World War II, expelling 17,000 Japanese to nearby Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s four main islands.
