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Putin, Abe to hold two meetings before year-end — deputy PM

Vladimir Putin and Shinzo Abe will hold a meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and during the Russian leader’s visit to Japan

MOSCOW, November 3. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hold a meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and during the Russian leader’s visit to Japan.

"We are getting ready for a meeting between our leaders on the sidelines of the APEC summit, and, of course, we realize that the milestone event of this year, which we hope will be of historic importance, is the Russian president’s visit to Japan before the end of this year," Russian First Deputy Prime Minister, Igor Shuvalov, said at a meeting with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Hiroshige Seko, on Thursday.

According to Shuvalov, he is ready to join the discussion of the most difficult issues with Japan that need to be addressed, including within the framework of the eight-point cooperation plan proposed by Shinzo Abe. "For our part, we are ready for this work and will use all available administrative resources in it," he said, adding that detailed discussion of cooperation between the two countries will be continued at a meeting of the Russian-Japanese intergovernmental commission in two weeks' time.

Seko noted that the implementation of this plan would facilitate the development of innovative technologies in Russia, diversification of industry and creation of an export base in Russia’s Far East that will focus on the delivery of Russian goods to the markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We believe that the implementation of the plans for economic cooperation will contribute to the development of mutual understanding between our two peoples," Seko said. He recalled that Putin’s visit to Japan is six weeks away, adding that this period of time should be used effectively to make sure that the upcoming talks are successful.

The APEC summit will be held in Lima, Peru, in November.

The eight-plan point plan to develop relations between the two countries was put forward by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Sochi on May 6. It envisages fostering relations between Japan and Russia in the energy sector, small and medium-sized businesses, the promotion of the industrialization of the Far East as well as expanding exports. In addition, it contains a proposal to bolster cooperation in advanced technologies, including the nuclear power industry, and in humanitarian exchanges.