The government may offer to negotiate the return of two, rather than all four, Russian-held islands off Hokkaido with Moscow, in hopes the proposed compromise might finally see a breakthrough in the decades-old territorial dispute, Japanese government sources said Saturday.

While there is nothing new about the proposal — seeking the return of Shikotan Island and the Habomai islets as a first step was originally proposed by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2001 — its revival coincides with Putin's return to the presidency this Monday.

Under the proposed negotiating framework, the sovereignty of the two remaining islands, Etorofu and Kunashiri, would be discussed in tandem. The four isles, known in Russia as the Southern Kurils, were seized by Soviet forces after Japan's surrender in World War II in August 1945.