Former Prime Minister of Japan Yoshiro Mori announced on Sunday that Russia agreed to return two islands of Russian-held Kurile Islands.

According to Kyodo Tsunin news agency, the matter concerns the islands of Habomai and Shikotan. Mori told that during March Russia-Japan negotiations the two countries decided to set up two special commissions regarding the settlement of the long-disputed territorial issue. The first one will work out the conditions of the islands return, the second one will examine the possibility to have back the other two islands - Kunashiri and Etorofu. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressing Japan's position on the territorial issue that was the major factor blocking the path to a peace treaty since 1945, The Daily Yomiuri reported. Japanese have made their position very clear - they want the return of all four islands seized by Soviet troops in 1945 on the eve of Japan's surrender to Allied forces.Russia's Foreign Ministry says Russia is prepared to resolve the territorial issue of sovereignty over the four South Kuril islands on the basis of the 1956 Declaration. According to the document, Russia committed to transfer only two of the four islands to Japan.