Japan considers it important to maintain relations with Russia — top diplomat

TOKYO, May 12. /TASS/. Japan considers it important to properly maintain relations with Russia as a neighboring country, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters. "Russia is Japan’s neighbor. And we consider it important to properly maintain bilateral relations," he noted. The top diplomat also commented on remarks made by Muneo Suzuki, a Japanese ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker who visited Moscow, regarding the possibility of a meeting between Japan’s and Russia’s foreign ministers on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Manila. In this regard, Motegi once again voiced criticism of Russia over its actions in Ukraine. On May 11, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara emphasized that his country’s government currently has no specific plans for contacts with Russia through the Foreign Ministry, including a meeting between the top diplomats. Following his meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko, Suzuki told reporters that the two sides were open to holding a meeting between their foreign ministers at the ASEAN summit in Manila in July if the Japanese government requested it. However, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova later emphasized that Moscow had not received any requests from Tokyo regarding high-level contacts on the sidelines of international events but was ready to consider them.