MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida to discuss the preparations for his upcoming visit to Japan, the Kremlin press service said.
"Putin will meet with the Japanese foreign minister who will arrive in Russia on a working visit to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov," the press service elaborated.
The Japanese foreign minister’s visit to Russia will sum up a series of bilateral contacts in political, economic, humanitarian and other spheres taking place in 2016. During this visit, the final preparations will be made for the Russian president’s official visit to Japan scheduled for December 15-16.
According to the press service, on Friday, Putin will chair a joint meeting of the Council for Culture and Art and the Council for Russian Language. "The issues concerning the support provided to public organizations and voluntary societies as well as their participation in the implementation of the state culture policy and development of regional theaters and filmmaking facilities are on the meeting’s agenda. The participants will also discuss the ways to join the state and society’s efforts in order to promote literature and introduce the classic Russian literature to common people," the Kremlin press service said. President Putin touched upon these issues in his annual address to the Federal Assembly (Russian parliament).
Besides that, the president will take part in the opening ceremony of the central segment of the Western High-Speed Diameter (a toll motorway in St. Petersburg).
"On the same day, the Fifth St. Petersburg International Culture Forum will open, the outcome of the Year of Russian Cinema will be summed up in the president’s presence," the press service noted.