Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday his talks next month and after with Russian President Vladimir Putin will be very significant, as he has sought to settle a long-standing territorial dispute with the country over a group of disputed islands and sign a postwar peace treaty.

"I will build next-generation Japan-Russia ties," Abe said in a speech at the headquarters of Kyodo News in Tokyo. "From next month and thereafter, I believe summits with President Putin will be extremely important."

Abe has said he plans to hold talks with Putin on at least two more occasions by the end of the year, when they attend international meetings, in an attempt to break an impasse over the sovereignty of the Russian-held islands off Hokkaido. One of the meetings could be a summit of the Group of 20 major economies set to be held in Argentina in November.