TOKYO: Russian President Vladimir Putin will not visit Japan to attend the state funeral of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Russia’s state-run ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying Monday.

The level of participation will be determined later, Peskov said.

A Japanese media report has said that Tokyo would refuse Putin’s attendance at the Sept. 27 funeral even if he wanted to go.

At a press conference in Tokyo, Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki said, “Nothing has been decided so far on the participation of foreign VIPs.”

Isozaki also said the government will make arrangements case by case based on Japan’s diplomatic position.

Abe had held talks many times with Putin, who is currently subject to Japan’s sanctions against Russian individuals over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

After Abe was fatally shot on July 8, Putin sent a telegram to the bereaved family expressing deep condolences over the death.

JIJI Press