Japan and Russia remain far apart on the territorial dispute over the Northern Territories, a group of northern Pacific islands known to the Russians as the Southern Kurils. The meeting over the weekend in Moscow between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Russian President Vladimir Putin produced no progress toward solving the problem, which has prevented the two nations from concluding a peace treaty to formally end World War II.

The two leaders signed an "action plan" calling for long-term cooperation in trade, energy development and other areas. They also issued a statement expressing their determination to expand bilateral ties. On the territorial dispute, however, they did little more than confirm previous statements, reiterating the need to sign a peace treaty "as early as possible" by resolving the sovereignty claims.

The Northern Territories issue appears to have been assigned a lower priority on the Koizumi administration's political agenda. In the past, Tokyo has emphasized that a territorial settlement is an essential condition for significant improvement in Russo-Japanese relations. Now, official denials notwithstanding, the islands issue appears to have been sidetracked to promote economic relations.