Russia May Arrange Foreign Ministers Meeting with Japan in July

Tokyo, May 5 (Jiji Press)--Japanese ruling party lawmaker Muneo Suzuki, quoting a senior Russian diplomat, has said that Moscow may arrange a meeting of the two countries' foreign ministers in July.

Suzuki, a member of Japan's House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament, met with Andrey Rudenko, Russia's deputy foreign minister in charge of Asian affairs, and other officials of the country in Moscow on Monday.

Rudenko said that Moscow would be ready to arrange, if Japan hopes, a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in July on the sidelines of a series of foreign ministers meetings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to be held in the Philippines, according to Suzuki, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.

The Russian side is not planning to attach conditions for the possible bilateral meeting, such as Japan lifting its sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Suzuki also said.

If a Motegi-Lavrov meeting is realized, it would be the first foreign ministers meeting between Japan and Russia since the February 2022 start of Russia's full-scale military aggression against Ukraine.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]