The two leaders reached the agreement while attending an ice hockey game after they failed to set the schedule in an informal summit earlier in the day, the official told a press briefing Saturday night.

In their two-hour talks in the morning, Mori proposed that Putin make an official visit to Tokyo from July 24-25, following the July 21-23 summit of the Group of Eight major nations in Okinawa Prefecture, political sources said.

Putin said he would visit Japan by the end of the year, but did not agree to Mori's proposal, the sources said.