Abe to Visit Europe, Russia from Sunday

Tokyo, April 27 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Europe and Russia for seven days starting Monday. The trip was officially approved at an executive board meeting of the House of Representatives rules and administration committee on Wednesday. In Europe, Abe will visit Italy, France, Germany and Britain, all of which are Japan's Group of Seven colleagues, ahead of the G-7 Ise-Shima summit to be held in central Japan on May 26-27. He plans to call on European leaders to work with Japan for the success of the G-7 summit. Abe initially planned to leave Japan on Friday but put off the departure to deal with the aftermath of a series of powerful earthquakes that hit Kumamoto Prefecture and other parts of the Kyushu region in southwestern Japan. Abe will also visit Brussels, where the European Union is headquartered, and hold talks with EU leaders. He is considering visiting the scene of the deadly terror attacks in Brussels last month and paying a floral tribute. On May 6, Abe will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, southwestern Russia, to discuss the longstanding bilateral territorial dispute over four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost landmass, and other issues. He will return to Japan on May 7. END