Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during a debate in Parliament, said his country's sovereignty extends, among other things, to the southern part of the Kuril Islands.

"The sovereignty of our country extends to the Northern Territories. It is necessary to resolve the issue of territories, not leaving it to the next generations," Kishida said.

He added that the Japanese government "is determined to conclude a peace treaty with Russia, to solve the problem of territorial affiliation."

"I intend to continue working on relations (with Russia) to resolve the territorial issue in the northern territories (the southern islands of the Kuril mountain range in Japan) and conclude a peace treaty with Russia," Kishida said, stressing that "without resolving the territorial issue there can be no peace treaty."

Earlier, the Japanese Prime Minister had his first telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, after taking office, during which the two sides reaffirmed their desire to push forward the negotiations on a peace treaty between the two countries based on the previous agreements reached, including the 2018 agreement.