Japan, Russia to push ahead with economic activity on disputed isles

The Japanese and Russian foreign ministers agreed Friday to move forward with specific plans to conduct joint economic activities on a group of islands at the center of a longstanding territorial dispute.However, the two ministers made little progress during their talks in Moscow in negotiations to sign a postwar peace treaty that has been prevented by the territorial spat.Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said at a joint press briefing after the meeting that he held "frank discussions" with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, admitting that the talks became "heated at times."The two c…READ FULL ARTICLE