Russian Foreign Minister to Visit Japan on Friday

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov starts his planned two-day official visit to Japan on Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will begin his two-day official visit to Japan.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov is expected to hold a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida to discuss a number of issues, including key international problems and coordination of countries' approaches to them.

Lavrov and Kishida would also discuss a number of security issues, including cybersecurity, counterterrorism efforts and security architecture in the Asia-Pacific Region. The ministers would also exchange their views on the problems of the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula.

The ministers are likely to discuss the issue of a peace treaty between Russia and Japan. The two countries have not signed a formal peace deal since World War II.

The Lavrov-Kishida meeting also has the aim to prepare contacts at the highest level as agreed by the two countries' leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The Russian Foreign Ministry expects that the meeting would contribute to the strengthening of economic ties between the two states that have deteriorated after Tokyo announced support for certain Western economic sanctions against Russia imposed in 2014 over Moscow's alleged interference in the eastern Ukrainian conflict.