Russia, Japan say differences remain over disputed islands Russia and Japan's top diplomats say there is a way to go before their countries can resolve a World War II-era dispute over a chain of islands, following a meeting in Moscow. The territorial dispute centres on four islands, between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean, seized by the Soviet army in the last days of World War II. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES of Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister and Taro Kono, Japanese Foreign Minister