Jay Wilson comments

You do realise that this meeting will not resolve the issue of the Northern Territories

Putin intends to string Japan along for as long as he can while he gets as much from Tokyo as he can, then he'll just say "We're keeping all the islands" and Japan will get nothing

I'll bet my bottom yen that South Korea and China will start bitching about this

I wish I had been in Japan as although I do not have the honor of being Japanese, I would have willingly gone with them to show my support

These talks will achieve nothing for Japan except to waste Shinzo Abe's time. Russia has no intention of giving Japan any of the islands and only want Japan to throw its money away on the islands as Moscow does not have the money to invest in the islands itself. if the islands are so valuable to Russia, why does Russia say the '56 deal (which Russia abrogated) to return two of the islands is still valid?