Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and President-elect Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow over the weekend. Mr. Fukuda tried to establish a good rapport both with Mr. Putin, who will step down soon but is expected to wield power as the next prime minister, and Mr. Medvedev, who will attend the July G8 summit in Hokkaido as Russian president.
Mr. Fukuda and Mr. Putin made no concrete progress toward resolving a territorial dispute over the Russian-held islands off Hokkaido. But the two leaders did commit to continue bilateral talks on the issue with a view toward concluding a peace treaty.
The two leaders also agreed to raise bilateral relations "to a higher dimension" that will contribute toward improving the stabilization and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region, and to hold Japan-Russia summits more frequently.
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