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Crimea and Sevastopol

Moscow praises Japan ex-PM’s stance on Crimea

ussian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov met with former Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama after his visit to Crimea

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama at Crimean Ethnographic Museum Alexei Pavlishak/TASS

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama at Crimean Ethnographic Museum

© Alexei Pavlishak/TASS

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Moscow welcomes former Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama’s unbiased position on Crimea, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said at the meeting with Hatoyama in Moscow on Friday.

"Russia duly appreciates Hatoyama’s wish to get the idea "without any middleman" on the real state of affairs in Crimea and the objective and sincere stance which he has taken," Morgulov told Hatoyama, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.

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The Japanese politician shared his impressions about his three-day trip to the Black Sea peninsula, which he rounded up on Thursday.

Hatoyama stressed that after that visit he personally made sure that the Crimean citizens expressed their will freely and democratically during the March 2014 referendum on leaving Ukraine and rejoining Russia, the ministry said.

Morgulov and Hatoyama exchanged views on the Russian-Japanese relations and focused on the issue of developing bilateral cultural ties.

Hatoyama visited Crimea on March 10-12 despite the official Tokyo’s warnings. The Japanese politician said he arrived there to check it out for himself that Crimea’s residents had been seeking reunification with Russia.

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Crimea and Sevastopol

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