Japan, Russia getting closer to better relations

Japan is looking for possibilities to have a meeting with Russia, a Japanese diplomat said on Thursday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Japan and Russia had agreed to continue dialogue when leaders of the countries met at the G20 summit in 2015. Suga was commenting on reports that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might visit Russia in near future.

Suga said there was no confirmation about any possible meeting yet. "We are looking for any possibilities for organizing a summit meeting with Russia but so far there are no concrete agreements on that matter," TASS News Agency quoted the Japanese diplomat as saying.

According to Alexei Pushkov, the meeting between Japan and Russia is still a possibility. The chairman of the international committee of the Russian State Duma lower parliament house said Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin and vice-president of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party Masahiko Komura had talked about the possibility of Abe’s visit to Russia.

"The sides have mentioned such a possibility," Pushkov said on Wednesday. He added that the LDP leader conveyed a personal message from the Japanese PM to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Asahi Shimbun reported earlier that Japan and Russia have agreed to work together to decide their reaction for the reported nuclear test by North Korea. Komura had a talk with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov regarding the issue during his Russia visit.

"It absolutely cannot be allowed because it represents a major national security threat,” he said. “In order to prevent further provocations, we will push for a new U.N. Security Council resolution with harsh provisions."

Lavrov, on his part, said Russia also found the nuclear test by the North “difficult to accept.” He added that Russia wanted the matter dealt at the United Nations.