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"You know Russia very well and this should help strengthen our relations," Medvedev added.
Hatoyama thanked the Russian leader for his remarks, saying: "I am thankful for that. There is a territorial issue. We would want to finally solve it and sign a peace treaty. We need to do this within our generation."
Russia has welcomed Hatoyama's election victory last month as the Japanese leader backs warmer ties with Moscow.
Russia had failed to solve the territorial dispute over a chain of Pacific islands during the decades-long rule by Japan's Liberal Democratic Party.
The two countries have yet to sign a peace agreement ending World War II because of the dispute over the Kuril Islands, a feud that still haunts bilateral ties.
The four islets north of Japan's Hokkaido island -- called the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan -- have been controlled by Moscow since they were seized by Soviet troops in 1945.
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Hatoyama thanked the Russian leader for his remarks, saying: "I am thankful for that. There is a territorial issue. We would want to finally solve it and sign a peace treaty. We need to do this within our generation."
Russia has welcomed Hatoyama's election victory last month as the Japanese leader backs warmer ties with Moscow.
Russia had failed to solve the territorial dispute over a chain of Pacific islands during the decades-long rule by Japan's Liberal Democratic Party.
The two countries have yet to sign a peace agreement ending World War II because of the dispute over the Kuril Islands, a feud that still haunts bilateral ties.
The four islets north of Japan's Hokkaido island -- called the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan -- have been controlled by Moscow since they were seized by Soviet troops in 1945.
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