Russian, Japanese leaders plan peace treaty consultations

MOSCOW – A meeting between the leaders of Russia and Japan has ended with no indication of whether significant progress was made toward resolving a territorial dispute that has overshadowed Moscow-Tokyo relations since World War II.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Friday with Vladimir Putin at the Russian president’s Sochi holiday residence.

After the meeting, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the two “confirmed readiness to develop an intensive political dialogue” and that consultations on a peace treaty would be held in June at the deputy foreign ministerial level.

Abe has been pushing to make progress in the dispute over the Russian-held islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan and the southern Kurils in Russia. The row has kept the two countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their WWII hostilities.