MOSCOW, May 13. /ITAR-TASS/. Sergei Naryshkin, Speaker of the Russian State Duma lower house of parliament, said on Tuesday he would visit Japan in June to meet Japanese leaders and attend the opening ceremony of the Russian culture festival in Japan.

Naryshkin, who met Kunio Hatoyama, a member of the House of Representatives of the Japanese parliament and chairman of the Japan-Russia Society earlier on Tuesday, thanked his counterpart for Japan’s “consistent and friendly stance on Russia.”

“I highly appreciate that your stance has not wavered under pressure from US politicians,” Naryshkin said advising all Japanese leaders not to yield to blackmail from the US administration.

“The Russian-Japanese relations have a long history. A huge potential created over years of our cooperation should not be sacrificed in favor of US political ambitions,” the Russian Duma speaker said.

For his part, Kunio Hatoyama said Japan would continue building strong relations with Russia despite the Ukraine crisis and complicated world situation. He shared Russia’s concern with the situation in Ukraine but said it was certainly difficult for the Japanese to ignore the US reaction.

“Honestly, the Japanese Foreign Ministry has asked me why I was travelling to Russia now ahead of the May 25 presidential elections in Ukraine. But I think the opposite. I decided it was the time to go to Moscow. My chief desire was to continue building strong ties with Russia,” the Japanese politician said.