SBS World News Radio: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin have met to discuss working together on bilateral issues.
One of the key talking points was a row over disputed islands that has prevented the two countries from formally ending World War Two.
At a hot springs resort in the western city of Nagato, Shinzo Abe and Vladimir Putin held the first of two meetings.
The humanitarian situation in Syria was high on the agenda during President Putin's first visit to Japan in more than a decade.
So too, economic cooperation on the disputed islands at the core of a row that's kept both countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending World War Two.
The remote islands are known in Japan as the Northern Territories, and in Russia as the Southern Kuriles.
They were seized by Soviet forces in the final days of World War Two and are seen from a military standpoint as strategic.
Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe told reporters the long-standing dispute was discussed thoroughly with his Russian counterpart.
"I believe we had a very frank and deep discussion about free visits to the islands by former Japanese residents and Japanese - Russian joint economic activity on the four islands under a special system as well as the issue of a peace treaty."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the two countries will keep discussing the territorial row and work towards economic cooperation.
Mr Lavrov told reporters Mr Putin also outlined Russia's concerns about the US presence in Asia.
"It was stated that in any case - despite special U.S-Japan relations based on their political and military alliance of 1960 - Russia and Japan are interested in close cooperation on security problems in the formats existing in the Asian-Pacific region."
President Putin used the meeting to offer a resumption of security talks after they were suspended following the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Mr Lavrov says Prime Minister Abe reacted positively to the offer.
"It was agreed today that it is necessary to also restore other mechanisms of our bilateral dialogue, which were frozen in recent years. They also include contacts between the military of the two countries."
The talks come as Russia faces Western criticism over its assault of eastern Aleppo in Syria.
The meetings will conclude in Tokyo before both leaders attend an economic forum.
