Japan's FM to visit Moscow

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will hold talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, during a five-day visit to Moscow from Dec 17.

The talks would be aimed at rebooting negotiations towards resolving the decades-old row that has prevented both countries from signing a post-World War II peace treaty, according to Motegi, who now heads talks with Russia over a protracted territorial dispute between both countries.

Talks also would be held between Motegi and Russia's Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin on the two countries' economic cooperation.

Tokyo and Moscow have been at odds over the sovereignty of four Russian-held islands located off Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia.