MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US president-elect Donald Trump are scheduled to meet on Thursday in New York City in a bid to strengthen bilateral ties.
"It’s important to first build up personal trust and talk about basic things," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has said.
Suga added that the agenda of the meeting between Trump and Abe had not been specified yet.
Abe congratulated Trump on his election victory last week, pledging to strengthen US-Japanese cooperation. According to local media reports, Abe has stressed that the US-Japanese alliance was beneficial for both states, but no specific defense or trade issues were discussed.
Abe is expected to visit New York on his way to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which will be held on November 19-20 in Lima, Peru.