Tokyo, 03 October, /AJMEDIA/
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday that one of its senior officials has received a visit from Japanese lawmaker Muneo Suzuki, known as a longtime champion of close ties with Moscow.
Suzuki, a member of the opposition Japan Innovation Party, met with Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko during what appears to be the first known visit by a Japanese lawmaker to Russia since its invasion of Ukraine began in February last year.
According to the Russian ministry, Rudenko told Suzuki that he has made important contributions to the enhancement of bilateral relations and regretted that such close ties, based on decades-old cooperation, have been harmed by Japan’s decision to join the United States in anti-Moscow sanctions.
Rudenko also told Suzuki that Japan’s stance does not serve its national interests and runs against the will of the Japanese people, the ministry said.
Suzuki was considering visiting Russia in the spring of this year but stopped short of making such a trip at the request of his party’s leadership.
