Japanese Defense Minister discusses cooperation with Russia’s Baltic Fleet

St PETERSBURG, August 1. /TASS/. Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera has held talks in St Petersburg with Acting Commander of the Forces of Russia’s Western Military District, Lt.-Gen. Viktor Astapov. The negotiations took place in the Officers’ Club of the military district. The scope of topics for discussion announced ahead of the meeting included defense cooperation and the plans for joint events where units of the Western Military District and ships of the Baltic Fleet would take part. The fleet is one of the five main territorial divisions of the Russian Navy. Before the talks, Onodera made a trip to the main base of the Baltic Fleet in Kronstadt, a former fortress on Kotlin Island in the Gulf of Finland, which is now a city district of St Petersburg. This was the first-ever visit to the place by a Japanese Defense Minister. Onodera had a walk around the town and called into the Maritime Cathedral, which a monument to naval officers and sailors who died in the performance of combat duty. Gathered there among others are the names of seamen who fought in the Russian-Japanese War of 1904. "This is a good reminder of the importance of treasuring peace and caring for security," the minister said upon examining with much attention the commemorative plaques inscribed with golden letter on which are the seamen’s names. On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held consultations in the two-plus-two format with Onodera and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono. The two-plus-two dialogue format was set up for in-depth exchanges of opinions on pressing global and regional problems. Read more