Japan, Russia to boost economic, security ties
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The foreign ministers of Japan and Russia agreed Saturday to strengthen economic and security cooperation but made no progress on resolving a long-standing territorial dispute over islands off northeastern Japan.
Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the two countries needed to address the territorial row in a calm manner. The dispute over the islands _ called the southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan has kept the two nations from forging a peace treaty officially ending their World War II hostilities, a problem Gemba said needs to be rectified. (AP)
