TOKYO (Sputnik) — Russian Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukaev considers the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Japan, noting that meetings with the Japanese side should be filled with the economic content.
"We are expecting further contacts, as well as President Putin's visit to Japan," Ulyukaev told the NHK television broadcaster, commenting on the upcoming meeting of the Russian and Japanese leaders at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September.
According to Ulyukaev, it is "very important" to include a specific economic content in the agenda of the upcoming talks.
Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev’s visit to Japan gives an impetus to cultivate political and economic ties between the countries ahead of the Russian and Japanese leaders’ possible meeting this fall, according to Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshige Seko.
"The minister’s visit is an important opportunity for the development of economic relations in light of the leaders’ upcoming meeting [in September]. We hope to encourage the development of Russian-Japanese relations as a whole, including in politics, namely the issue of signing a peace treaty, as well as economics and culture," Seko said ahead of talks with Ulyukayev.
It was suggested earlier that the two heads of state could meet at the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia's Vladivostok in early September.
In May, Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held talks in the Russian resort city of Sochi, where they discussed a wide range of political, economic and international issues.
Abe presented an eight-point bilateral economic plan during his Sochi visit. The plan covers such areas as oil and gas development and the modernization of ports and airports in the Far East.
