Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin had a meeting with a deputy of the House of Councillors of the Japanese Parliament.
Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin had a meeting with Deputy of the House of Councillors of the Japanese Parliament (National Diet) Muneo Suzuki.
The officials discussed the current state and prospects of Russian-Japanese relations that remain frozen.
Tokyo’s decision to join the anti-Russia sanctions is among the causes of this situation, Grigory Karasin noted. At the same time, the senator did not rule out the possibility of reinstating previous cooperation formats and searching for new ones, provided that the Japanese side shows the corresponding desire and unconditionally respects Russian interests.
“Interparliamentary contacts, including personal contacts, must continue amid unstable international relations,” Grigory Karasin said.
Muneo Suzuki expressed his conviction that Japanese-Russian relations are important and that it is necessary to improve them. He noted that he would continue working in this direction in the Japanese Parliament.
Both agreed that, given the complicated international situation, parliamentary ties were becoming more important as a means of improving bilateral ties.
During the meeting, they had substantive exchanges on a number of international issues, including the situation in Ukraine. Grigory Karasin described in detail the causes of the Ukraine crisis and the decision to launch the special military operation.