TOKYO, September 16. /TASS/. Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev may visit Japan late this month, the Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday.
Russia’s embassy in Japan has declined to comment on the report.
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Japan’s official news agency reported citing sources that Tokyo and Moscow are "making arrangements" for the visit.
Patrushev is expected to stay in Japan on September 22-24 and may meet with Japan’s National Security Council Secretary Shotaro Yachi. The sides could discuss the visit of Russian President Vladimri Putin to Japan.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier announced plans to organize Putin’s visit to Japan by the end of this year.
In late July, Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists it was undecided when the Russian president would pay an official visit to Japan.
"At the moment, no exact dates have been set," Peskov told journalists, adding that "Russia remains open to any contacts, particularly with one of its closest neighbors such as Japan."
Moscow and Tokyo "have a rather considerable bilateral trade and economic relations volume," he added.
Putin was expected to travel to Tokyo in the autumn of 2014, but the start of a crisis in Ukraine strained relations between Russia and several other nations, forcing the president to put off the trip until next year.