Territorial dispute highlighted in 1st phone talk between Suga, Putin

In their first phone talks since the new Japanese leader took office earlier this month, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday he is eager to resolve a territorial dispute that has kept their countries from signing a postwar peace treaty.

Speaking to reporters after the conversation, Suga said he told Putin that he wants to develop Japan-Russia relations and that the row over the sovereignty of Russian-held islands off Hokkaido "should not be left for later generations to deal with,"

Kyodo News

reported.

Tokyo and Moscow have been at odds over the sovereignty of the four Russian-held islands, with the territorial spat preventing the two countries from signing a post-World War II peace treaty and hindering diplomatic and trade relations between the two countries.

Putin said he was ready to continue dialogue on all bilateral issues and the two agreed to meet in person soon to hold "frank discussions," according to Suga.

Hours before the talks, Russia announced the start of military exercises on two of the islands, Kunashiri and Etorofu, involving more than 1,500 personnel and 200 machine guns and artillery pieces.

Suga's predecessor, Shinzo Abe, and Putin had agreed to hold negotiations based on a 1956 bilateral agreement that mentions the other, smaller islands, the Habomai islet group and Shikotan, being returned to Japan after a peace treaty is concluded. But little progress was made, and after announcing in late August his decision to resign due to health problems, Abe agreed with Putin by phone on the need for ongoing efforts to resolve the issue.

The two leaders also discussed possible medical cooperation, including in the development of COVID-19 vaccines, the Kremlin said in a statement.

(Cover: Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin.)