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Abe expects meaningful meeting with Putin at G20 summit — Russian senator

In the past six months, the Russian president and the Japanese prime minister met twice

TOKYO, June 8. /TASS/. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expects to hold a meaningful meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit due in July, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Committee for Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kosachev.

According to him, Abe clarified his expectations at Thursday’s meeting with a delegation of the Federation Council’s Advisory Board on facilitating inter-parliamentary and inter-regional cooperation. The delegation led by Kosachev is currently on an official visit to Tokyo.

"During the meeting, Abe emphasized the importance of inter-parliamentary cooperation for Russian-Japanese relations," the Russian senator said. "He also expressed hope that the high-level meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg would prove meaningful," Kosachev added.

In the past six months, the Russian president and the Japanese prime minister met twice.

On December 15-16, 2016, the Russian president visited Japan for the first in 11 years. The peace treaty issue and the South Kuril Islands issue topped the agenda, while bilateral cooperation was also discussed. Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe adopted a joint statement saying that consultations on joint economic activities on the South Kuril Islands could become an important step on the way to a peace treaty.

In late April, Shinzo Abe made a visit to Russia to hold talks with Vladimir Putin.