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Putin, Abe to meet at APEC summit in November — Ushakov

MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet at the APEC summit in China in November, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told the media on Thursday.

Asked by TASS when Putin’s visit to Japan might be possible, Ushakov said “Abe has invited Putin but the parties have not started to coordinate a date yet.”

“Putin has a million invitations to different countries, including Japan, but the issue of a likely date has not been discussed so far,” he explained. “Putin, too, tells each leader - ‘Welcome to Moscow’, but that does not mean the guest will be here tomorrow.”

Ushakov did not rule out the possibility of a brief Putin-Abe contact at the ASEM summit in Milan, but “a full format meeting” should be expected at the APEC summit in China.