Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Tuesday that the two countries will aim to promote territorial negotiations based on a 1956 joint declaration, according to a Japanese government official.
In their first phone talks since Suga took office earlier this month, the two leaders underscored an accord former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Putin struck in 2018 to advance negotiations based on the declaration stipulating that Moscow will hand over two of four disputed islands off Hokkaido to Tokyo after a peace treaty is concluded.
Speaking to reporters after the talks, Suga said, "I would like to put an end to the Northern Territory issue without leaving it to the next generation."