Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and visiting Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, reaffirmed Thursday that Japan and Russia will enhance ties to advance their peace treaty negotiations.
The ties will be made in various fields based on a series of previous agreements reached by the two countries' leaders, according to a Foreign Ministry official.
To that end, Obuchi and Ivanov agreed on the importance of holding a bilateral summit before the Group of Eight meeting in Okinawa in July, the official said.