MIYAZAKI — Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and his Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov, reconfirmed the two countries' commitment Wednesday to resolve their long-standing territorial row and strive to sign a peace treaty by year's end, a Foreign Ministry official said.
The two foreign ministers also agreed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will officially visit Japan in early September. But they failed to set a date, deciding the schedule should be formally set next week when Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori meets with Putin in Okinawa, the official said.
Their 50-minute talk took place Wednesday morning ahead of the Group of Eight foreign ministers' meeting, a two-day gathering that kicked off later in the day at the Seagaia seaside resort complex in Miyazaki.