TOKYO, April 1. /TASS/. There are no changes in Russian-Japanese arrangements on President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Tokyo, a spokesman for Japan’s Foreign Ministry told TASS on Wednesday.
"At a meeting in Beijing last year, the leaders of the two countries agreed to start preparations for the Russian president’s visit at the appropriate time this year. There are no changes in that. However, specific date was not set," the sapokesman said.
"We will study this issue, considering the preparations for the visit on the basis of integrating different factors. The current statement by the Russian presidential press secretary is considered as the recognition of the fact that the date for the visit to Japan has not been set yet," the Japanese diplomat noted.
On March 31, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov that Putin is not planning to visit Japan in the nearest future. "No [such visit] is planned yet," Peskov told journalists.
The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier reported that the diplomats of Russia and Japan confirmed at their meeting in Moscow "the importance of joint work on preparing the official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tokyo, including holding a session of the Russian-Japanese Inter-governmental Commission on Trade and Economic Issues and talks between foreign ministers in Moscow." "The sides agreed to hold the next round of consultations in Tokyo," the foreign ministry said.
The diplomatic agency did not name a possible date of Putin’s visit to Japan. Earlier, the Kremlin confirmed that the invitation from Tokyo had been received.