Russian President Vladimir Putin called here Sunday for a resolution of disputes with Japan as he sought more trade between the two countries whose ties have been hampered for 60 years over the status of four small islands.
Putin brought a delegation of 100 business leaders for his first trip to Japan in five years but few expect any breakthrough on four Kuril islands off Japan's northern coast seized by Moscow in 1945.
"I would like very much that in the coming years we could establish such relations as those whose foundations we have built these last few years," Putin told reporters.
Putin said that recent ties "give us hope that we will be able to construct relations of friendship, understanding and respect for each other, respect for our traditions and history and solve all the questions which remain unresolved until now.