Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Japan in June

Mr. Taro Kono was speaking ahead of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The meeting is the first since Kono and Lavrov were tapped by their leaders in December to oversee the peace treaty talks.

The ministerial meeting is meant to lay the groundwork for a planned summit later in the month between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Putin in Russia, after the leaders agreed to step up talks based on a 1956 joint declaration.

President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last met in November 2018, and agreed to accelerate talks to formally end World War II hostilities./.