No breakthrough is expected in the dispute over the Kuril Islands at the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Kremlin said Friday.
"This is a much more complex issue and requires longer and more efforts," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Japan and Russia have not inked a bilateral peace treaty after World War II due to a disagreement over four islands in the Okhotsk Sea, which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan the Northern Territories.
However, Peskov said the participation of the Japanese leader at the Eastern Economic Forum, which kicked off here Friday, showed Japan's interest in trade and economic cooperation with Russia, in particular, in Russia's Far East.
He added that the Kremlin considered the talks an "important milestone" in preparing Putin's visit to Japan in December.
