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Russian lower house speaker to meet with Japanese PM

Sergey Naryshkin will pay a working visit to Japan on June 16-17

Speaker of Russia’s State Duma lower parliament house Sergey Naryshkin Alexandr Shalgin/Russia's parliament press service/TASS

Speaker of Russia’s State Duma lower parliament house Sergey Naryshkin

© Alexandr Shalgin/Russia's parliament press service/TASS

VLADIVOSTOK, June 16. /TASS/. Speaker of Russia’s State Duma lower parliament house Sergey Naryshkin said on Thursday he plans to have talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and discuss issues of close inter-parliamentary cooperation during his working visit to Japan.

"I will have talks in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Abe this evening," he told journalists ahead of his working visit to Japan.

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"We will hold a series of consultations and meetings with representatives of Japan’s political and business elite, including our colleagues, lawmakers. We will speak about closer parliamentary cooperation which is of major importance for creating a right and friendly atmosphere between our countries and peoples," he told journalists.

"We understand and see good perspectives for cooperation in practically all spheres of our relations," he told journalists ahead of his working visit to Japan.

He admitted the existence of difficulties in bilateral relations. "These difficulties emerged in 2014, after the developments following the state coup in Ukraine and Japan’s partial joining the illegal sanctions against Russia," Naryshkin said.

However, he said, there is a roadmap of Russia-Japan cooperation based on the joint statement of 2013 and the latest mutual top-level agreements. "Work is underway now in line with this roadmap," he added.

He said the Russian parliamentary delegation will attend the opening ceremony of the annual festival of Russian culture in Japan. It will be the eleventh such festival. "It is a big event which once again proves that dialogue between nations can be maintained through culture which is a good instrument for international cooperation," Naryshkin stressed.

Naryshkin will pay a working visit to Japan on June 16-17.

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