TOKYO: Japanese House of Councillors member Muneo Suzuki met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, becoming the first Japanese lawmaker to visit Russia since the start of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Suzuki, a member of opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), was visiting Moscow from Sunday for a trip through Thursday, according to his office. The trip was reported to the Upper House in advance. He had planned to visit Russia in May, but gave up the idea at the time.

During the Monday meeting, the Russian side praised Suzuki for making important contribution to the development of bilateral ties, while criticizing Japan for purposefully destroying the decades-old accumulated wealth of interstate cooperation by imposing sanctions on Russia over its Ukraine invasion just to please the United States, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Russian side also complained that Tokyo’s such policy does not meet the national interests of Japan or the aspirations of the Japanese people, the ministry said.

In response to the Japanese sanctions, Russia in March last year announced the suspension of bilateral territorial and peace treaty talks. In September that year, Moscow unilaterally scrapped its agreement with Tokyo on visa-free exchanges between Japanese and Russian people.

The Kremlin is apparently trying to split the public opinion in Japan by welcoming Suzuki on one side and emphasizing the sanctions’ negative impact on bilateral relations on the other.

JIJI Press