BONN (Kyodo) -- Japan and Russia will hold the "two-plus-two" dialogue between the two countries' defense and foreign ministers on March 20 in Tokyo after a hiatus of more than three years, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday.
Kishida also said he agreed with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to promote talks to realize joint economic activities on four Russian-held, Japanese-claimed islands off Hokkaido, confirming the countries will hold their first talks on the issue in Tokyo on March 18.
The two-plus-two dialogue has not been held since the first meeting in November 2013 due to Moscow's annexation of the Crimean region of Ukraine in March 2014 that deteriorated Russia's relations with Japan and Western powers.
Kishida and Lavrov also agreed that Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama and Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov will meet in Tokyo on March 30 for a strategic dialogue, which covers a wide range of diplomatic issues.
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