Putin said he had invited Abe to attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in 2018, "and Shinzo accepted our invitation."
"We agreed with Mr. Abe that the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces [Gerasimov] and commander of the Land Force [Oleg Salyukov] will soon visit Japan," he said.
The sides signed a convention eliminating double taxation, Putin said. He expressed hope that specific projects on the mitigation of Fukushima disaster consequences will be outlined with Tokyo by the end of 2017.
"Cooperation in the sphere of peaceful atom is intensifying. We are expecting specific joint projects to eliminate the consequences of the accident at Fukushima to be outlined by the end of the year," the Russian president said.
Russia and Japan also discussed the peace treaty issue:
"Of course, we have touched upon the issue of peace treaty. We discussed, in particular, the possibility of joint economic activities on the South Kuril Islands," Putin said. "The fundamental thing for the Japanese-Russian relations is signing a peace treaty, that is what [Russian] President Putin said during his visit to Japan," Abe opined.
The also broached the situation around North Korea.
"Obviously, great attention was paid to the crisis situation on the Korean peninsula …we decisively condemned the launch of North Korea’s medium-range ballistic missile which flew over Japan’s territory on August 28, as well as the new nuclear tests carried out on September 3. Pyongyang of course creates a serious threat to peace and stability in the whole region with its actions," Putin told reporters.
Putin said the crisis could be resolved only via diplomatic means.
"I confirmed to Mr. Prime Minister [Abe] our position, which stands as follows: settlement on the Korean peninsula and final solution to the nuclear issue is only possible through political and diplomatic means," Putin said.
Abe condemned Pyongyang's nuclear tests. North Korea will have no future if these tests continue, he said.
"If North Korea will continue following this path, then North Korea will not have a bright future. It is necessary to make North Korea understand this idea and make it change its policy. Japan and Russia reached an consensus that we would continue cooperation on this issue, including on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly," Abe said.
The Japanese leader called for turning the year of 2018 into a year of mutual understanding between Tokyo and Moscow.
The two-day EEF started in Vladivostok on Wednesday, drawing over 3,500 participants from more than 50 countries.
Moscow and Tokyo intended to sign some 40 commercial and inter-agency agreements.
