Russia, Japan ink crab, timber pacts

Russia and Japan say they signed a series of trade agreements Saturday, including pacts on crab poaching and a timber processing factory. None of the agreements, however, deal with the long-running controversy about possession of a chain of small islands in the north Pacific, RIA Novosti reported. The bilateral accords include a ban on crab poaching in the Sea of Okhotsk and a deal to construct a timber processing factory in Siberia. The pacts were signed on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Vladivostok. Trade between the countries totaled $29.7 billion last year. None of the agreements settled a dispute over islands claimed by both nations, called the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan.