MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday held a telephone conversation with his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi to discuss the peace treaty issue.

"The ministers exchanged opinion on the condition of the dialogue on a peace treaty," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a news release.

Lavrov and Toshimitsu examined the outlook for implementing the leaders’ agreements on the comprehensive development of bilateral relations for the purpose of propelling them to a qualitatively new level, including wider mutually beneficial cooperation in the trading and economic sphere.

"Special attention was paid to joint projects in the hydrogen power industry in Russia’s Far East and plans for joint economic activity in the South Kuril Islands," the Foreign Ministry said.

"The two sides previewed a timetable for further Russian-Japanese contacts, including the forthcoming meeting of the inter-governmental commission for trading and economic cooperation and a ceremony of opening a year of Russian-Japanese inter-regional and twin city exchanges," the Foreign Ministry said.

The telephone conversation was requested by the Japanese side.

Moscow and Tokyo have for decades conducted consultations on concluding a peace treaty based on the results of World War II. Disagreements regarding sovereignty over the South Kuril Islands remain the stumbling block. After the war the archipelago was included in the Soviet Union, but Japan disputes sovereignty over Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and a group of adjoining small uninhabited islands. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly said that Russia’s sovereignty over these territories has formal international legal grounds to rely on and is beyond doubt.