Senior diplomats from Japan and Russia are set to hold strategic talks on October 13, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Friday.

Vice foreign ministers from the two countries will discuss the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Syria. The Northern Territories and the peace treaty between the two countries could also come up.

Kishida hopes the meeting proves fruitful ahead of the visit to Japan by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Strategic talks between the two countries were launched in 2007 to discuss a broad range of issues.