The government on Monday welcomed the re-election of Russian President Vladimir Putin and pledged to continue talks with Moscow on settling a long-standing territorial dispute over four disputed isles off Hokkaido.
"As we advance Japan-Russia relations in a broad range of fields in our national interest, we will continue to persistently negotiate with Russia toward the resolution of the issue of the four islands' sovereignty," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.
The top government spokesman made the comments after Putin, now the Kremlin's longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, won re-election with about 77 percent of the vote, handing him a new six-year term.