Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Friday to seek to resolve the decades-old territorial row, Kyodo News Agency reported.

The unsolved row has barred the two countries from signing a postwar peace treaty, renewing efforts via frequent dialogues and closer economic cooperation. 

"I have a sense that we are moving toward a breakthrough in the stalled peace treaty negotiations," Abe told reporters after his three-hour meeting with Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. 

The talks included a 30-minute session where the leaders talked one-on-one, according to a Japanese official.

"We agreed to resolve the peace treaty issue by ourselves as we seek to build a future-oriented relationship. We will proceed with the negotiations with a new approach, free of any past ideas," Abe said.

Source: MENA