Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda have agreed to consider boosting cooperation in defense and security in the Asia-Pacific region, where China is building up its military presence.
They met on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Hawaii.
Noda also pushed for new talks with Russia over a long-running dispute over islands Moscow seized during the closing days of World War II and known as the Kurile Islands in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.
Medvedev rebuffed him, urging Japan to put trade before politics.
“We shouldn’t make a drama over the matter,” he said.
compiled from agency reports