OREANDA-NEWS. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to take part in the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok in September and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin there. This was announced at a press conference in Tokyo on Monday by Secretary General of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan Yoshihide Suga. "As for the Eastern Economic Forum in September, if circumstances permit, Prime Minister Abe will attend this event", he said.

"Since there are problems in Japanese-Russian relations, the leaders of the two countries should meet and discuss this directly", Suga added, responding to a request from journalists to comment on the possible deterioration in relations between Japan and the Russian Federation due to the recent trip of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to the south part of the Kuril Islands. In Tokyo, they reacted to her with protests.

This is an important international event to be held from September 4 to September 6. As a result of the forum, in 2018, 220 agreements, contracts, memoranda and protocols were signed in the amount of more than 3 trillion rubles. The forum was attended by 6002 delegates and 1357 media representatives from 60 foreign countries.

Earlier, the Government of Japan protested to the Russian side over the planned firing in the Kunashir island area of ​​the South Kuril ridge. This was stated by Secretary General of the Cabinet of Japan Yoshihide Suga. According to Sugi, the strengthening of the Russian military presence in the “northern territories” contradicts Tokyo’s position. “We protested through diplomatic channels”, the Russian media quoted the Secretary General as saying.

Training firing in the Kunashir area should take place from 5 to 10 August. Moscow has repeatedly noted that Japan’s ongoing claims don't contribute to creating a positive atmosphere in relations between countries.