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On July 30, 2019, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a courtesy call from a group of junior high school students, who are third and fourth generation or other descendants of former inhabitants of the Northern Territories of Japan, at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
After seven of the students spoke about their thoughts toward the Northern Territories, the Prime Minister said,
 
“Thank you for visiting the Prime Minister’s Office today. You have just shared with me the feelings of your great-grandfathers, great-grandmothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, as well as your own thoughts on the Northern Territories.
 
Regretfully, this issue has remained unresolved for more than 70 years since the end of World War II. In 2016, I held a Summit Meeting with President Putin at my hometown of Nagato; we shared the view on the basic approach, a new approach, that we will conclude a peace treaty through deepening the understanding of the public of both countries, by which I mean to solve the territorial issues and conclude a peace treaty.
 
At the end of last year, President Putin and I agreed to accelerate peace treaty negotiations based on the 1956 Joint Declaration.
 
Under this new approach, we are currently coordinating a grave visit by airplane in August this year. Russia has agreed to it as it enables former island residents in their advanced age to visit the Four Islands easily. I hope that we will replicate these efforts going forward.
 
When we held that Summit Meeting in my hometown of Nagato, I also invited President Putin to read the letters from former island residents there. I have high hopes that he found their earnest thoughts and feelings through those letters.
 
Moreover, the joint economic activities on the Four Islands are important for each of us to recognize the importance of a peace treaty through cooperating with one another and achieving various accomplishments. We have agreed to conduct experimental projects this fall in the field of waste management and tourism. I would like to deepen their understanding on the importance of resolving the territorial issues and concluding a peace treaty. President Putin and I are determined to put an end to this issue by our own hands; I would like to exert every effort even further to promote the negotiations on concluding a peace treaty until this issue is resolved. Against this backdrop, your activities are extremely important; I believe that it is very important for the entire Japanese public to learn more about the territorial issue and the peace treaty with interest. I hope that, going forward, you will continue these activities. Thank you.”