Yomiuri led with a speculative piece claiming that when holding a summit with Russian President Putin on Thursday, Prime Minister Abe will propose conducting a feasibility study on “joint economic activities” in the Northern Territories in order to identify concrete business plans in such areas as medicine, tourism, fisheries, and the environment. The GOJ hopes to send a team of government officials and businesspeople to the islands on a chartered ship in May or June. Abe is also hoping to reach an accord with the Russian leader on using chartered flights for Japanese who were born on the Russian-controlled islets to visit the graves of their ancestors there.

Mainichi filed a similar story, noting that it will be difficult for the premier to extend economic overtures toward Moscow in order to achieve a breakthrough in the territorial dispute at this juncture because of renewed tension between the U.S. and Europe and the Putin administration over the situations in Syria, Ukraine, and North Korea.