(VOVworld) - Russian President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday in Vladivostok, Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Abe has been pushing for progress in the dispute over the Russian-held islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan and the southern Kurils in Russia. Abe wants to arrange for Putin to visit Japan later this year. Putin said that Moscow is willing to build on the progress in talks that the two leaders last held in Russia's Sochi in May. His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters later that the Kremlin had not expected a breakthrough on the territorial dispute, stressing the need for long-term and thorough efforts of experts in order to reach a compromise. The Kremlin announced that Putin will travel to Japan in December, his first trip to the country since 2005.