Heads of Russian, Japanese Security Councils Discuss Putin’s Visit to Tokyo

Head of the National Security Council of Japan Shotaro Yachi and Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev discussed during Yachi’s visit to Moscow earlier this week the future visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary said Wednesday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — Yachi and Patrushev held a meeting Tuesday.

“[Shotaro Yachi and Nikolai Patrushev] exchanged views on the issues of Russian-Japanese relations. The questions regarding the [possible] visit of President Putin to Japan and the territorial dispute were among the issues discussed,” Yoshihide Suga said.

The spokesman for the Japanese government refused to further comment on the contents of the dialogue but noted that the very fact that the high-ranking officials of the two countries are in constant dialogue “is commendable.”

Putin was to travel to Tokyo in 2014, but the start of a crisis in Ukraine strained relations between Russia and several other nations, including Japan, forcing the president to put off the trip until next year.

Earlier in June, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said that the preparations for Putin’s visit to Japan were already underway.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also confirmed in June his invitation to the Russian president to visit Tokyo.