Tokyo tells US about preparations for Russian president’s visit to Japan

TOKYO, May 18. /TASS/. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has informed US President Barack Obama that Tokyo will continue preparing for the this year's visit of Russian leader Vladimir Putin to Japan, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Monday. "At talks with President Obama in April Prime Minister Abe said that the coordination effort linked to the Russian president’s visit to Japan will continue," the ministry official told TASS. "He also said that Japan attaches great importance to the cooperation as part of the G7 and will make effort towards the peaceful solution to the issues linked to Ukraine," the diplomat said. The diplomat said the issue on the visit of the Russian president to Japan would be tacked with due regard to its preparedness and "also based on the integral assessment of various factors." Abe and Obama held talks in the White House on April 28. According to informed sources, the head of the US administration called on Tokyo to have a careful approach to the issue of the Russian leader’s visit and stressed the importance of pressure against Moscow from all the G7 countries. Japan’s Foreign Ministry said that bilateral economic consultations were due to be held in Moscow on May 18. Japan will be represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Yasumasa Nagamine, Russia - by First Deputy Economic Development Minister Alexey Likhachev.Tokyo considers the consultations as part of preparations for the talks at the level of the countries’ leaders. Russia’s Foreign Ministry earlier said that at a meeting in Moscow in mid-February, the diplomats of the two countries confirmed the importance of joint work on preparing the official visit of Putin to Tokyo. However, the exact date of the visit was not announced. Read more