21 Mar 2018 10:40

Upcoming Putin-Abe meeting is main event in Russian-Japanese relations in 2018 - Lavrov

TOKYO. March 21 (Interfax) - A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe scheduled for May 2018 will be the main event in relations between the two countries this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"Certainly, the meeting between our leaders in May is the main event of the year, and we are interested in using today's negotiations to prepare this event as efficiently as possible," Lavrov said at a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono.

Lavrov also recalled that Kono had said at one of their previous meetings that he hoped Russia and Japan would play in the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

"Let's try to make it happen," he said.

Intensive dialogue between Russia and Japan is fundamentally important to consistently implement the existing agreements, he said.

"I believe that, in general, our relations are developing dynamically, although there are surely some areas where we'd like to see more activity," Lavrov said.