TOKYO: Japan has taken a wait-and-see attitude in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement Thursday that Moscow will accept dialogue with Tokyo under some conditions.

Putin’s statement “is aimed at unsettling Japan, this year’s Group of Seven president,” a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said.

“We’ll not do anything that would disrupt the unity of the G-7,” the official added. The G-7 major powers lead international efforts to impose sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

At a meeting in Russia on international affairs, Putin said that his country would be open to talks with Japan if some conditions are met, including the removal of Japan’s sanctions.

On Friday, Japanese lawmaker Muneo Suzuki of opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) welcomed the remark after returning to Japan on Thursday from his visit to Russia.

“Just to hear him saying that he is prepared for dialogue, I feel my trip was worth it,” said Suzuki, a member of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of Japan’s parliament.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa underscored her country’s policy of maintaining the sanctions.

“We’ll work with (our peers in) the G-7 and the international community to continue our diplomatic efforts, including through strict sanctions,” she told a press conference Friday.

Japan’s sanctions against Russia led to suspensions of trips to the disputed northwestern Pacific islands by former Japanese residents to visit the graves of relatives and ancestors, as well as bilateral negotiations on operations by Japanese fishing boats near the four islands.

The Russian-held islands, seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II, are known as the Northern Territories in Japan.

Hanako Jimi, minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs, has said that the resumption of exchange programs between Japan and Russia is high on the list of priorities related to the bilateral relations.

“We’ll deal appropriately with any issues Japan and Russia need to address as neighbors, from the viewpoint of what serves our national interest,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press conference.

JIJI Press