The Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs held a meeting with a member of the Japanese Parliament’s House of Councillors.
Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin held a meeting with member of the Japanese Parliament’s House of Councillors Muneo Suzuki.
The officials agreed that the current state of Russian-Japanese relations did not meet the long-term interests of their countries. Grigory Karasin noted that the restoration of constructive interaction was only possible on the basis of respect for Russia’s sovereign interests.
The senator emphasised that the Japanese authorities’ decision to abandon their hostile policy towards Russia should be backed by concrete practical actions if they wanted to relaunch interstate contacts.
The parties exchanged views on the key aspects of the international and regional agendas. Grigory Karasin explained the details of Russia’s position regarding the situation in Ukraine, which is based on the need to protect Russia’s legitimate interests and ensure its security.
Muneo Suzuki expressed the hope that Tokyo and Moscow would coordinate mutually acceptable approaches to normalising bilateral relations. The members of parliament also discussed humanitarian and legal aspects of the Japanese citizens’ trips to Russia, in particular, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
They focused on practical fisheries cooperation, noting that the joint commission on fisheries continued to function despite the complicated political background.
Grigory Karasin and Muneo Suzuki expressed interest in maintaining dialogue and noted that their parliaments could make a substantial contribution to creating conditions for relaunching full-fledged interstate cooperation.