Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a courtesy call at the Prime Minister's Office from junior-high students who are descendants, including third-generation descendants, of families who once lived in the Northern Territories of Japan.

These seven students spoke about their feelings toward the Northern Territories, after which the Prime Minister said,

"In April, I made an official visit to Russia, which was the first for a Japanese Prime Minister in ten years, to hold a meeting with President Putin. President Putin and I agreed to make steady efforts toward conclusion of our peace treaty, which includes the territorial issue.
Such issues cannot be resolved without decisions made by the national leaders. With this understanding, President Putin and I also agreed to instruct our respective staff to move forward and accelerate these negotiations.
Negotiations on these issues can only be advanced by both countries bringing forth acceptable proposals to the table. To this end, we will continue to do our utmost.
At the same time, we need the people's understanding in moving forward with our negotiations. As we can only engage in negotiations and advance in the direction that we strive for when we have the people's support, I believe your visiting me at my office and bravely expressing your individual thoughts in front of the media is something that is very significant. Please continue to share your thoughts with those around you, and we will also continue to steadily work hard to do our part."