Japan and Russia agreed Tuesday to boost cooperation in nuclear power generation _ a deal expected to provide resource-poor Japan access to a stable supply of uranium.
"Japan has superb technology in building nuclear power plants, while Russia has rich uranium resources and advanced technology in uranium enrichment," Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said.
The two countries signed several economic accords Tuesday. Visiting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said his country can offer its expertise in nuclear power engineering and information and telecommunications technologies, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.
"Russia has set itself the ambitious task to restructure the economy," Putin said, adding the move "is expected to change Russia's image, not only Russia's economy."
Putin acknowledged little progress was made on a decades-old territorial spat with Japan over disputed islands. Both sides agreed to try and speed up the process.
The islands, which Russia calls the southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories, have been under Russian control since the closing days of World War II. The dispute has prevented the signing of a peace treaty.
Aso said the absence of a peace treaty "has also interfered with developing economic ties between the two countries" and the problem should not be handed down to the next generations.
Putin also held a series of talks with Japanese lawmakers and business leaders. He is to leave Tokyo on Wednesday.
In a related development Tuesday, Toshiba Corp. announced it signed a memorandum of understanding to start joint studies on the nuclear industry with a Russian enterprise, Joint Stock Company Techsnabexport.
Toshiba in March 2008 reached an agreement with Russia's state-run nuclear power enterprise Atomenergoprom to cooperate in the nuclear energy sector.
