"We shall keep demanding the return of the four [South Kurile] islands [adjoining the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido]," Mr. Machimura stressed.
According to him, the Russian and Japanese foreign ministers are to meet in Moscow in mid-January.
On his part, Secretary General of the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party of Japan Hiroyuki Hosoda reaffirmed that Japan did not intend to change its position on the Kurile Islands.
"The Japanese position is not changed and based on the Tokyo declaration of 1993. As soon as the problem of the status and return of the four [South Kurile] islands is solved we shall be ready to sign a peace treaty with Russia," he said.
Talks with Russian representatives at different levels will be held in the near future, Mr. Hosoda reported.
Japan insists on the acknowledgement of its sovereignty over the four South Kurile islands - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai (a group of tiny islands).
The Russian side has often claimed that it is ready to hold negotiations on the basis of the 1956 joint declaration ratified by the parliaments of both countries. According to this document, "Russia is ready to consider the possibility of ceding Shikotan and Habomai to Japan after the signing of a peace treaty."
