"I do not think that foreign policy will change. At the very least, the fact that the Russian president paid an official visit to Japan after a long break does not reflect any change in our approach to cooperation with Asian countries, as will as with all the other countries," Lavrov told lawmakers.
Lavrov added that Russia had repeatedly expressed its interest and will to develop cooperation with Japan in a number of fields, such as "trade, economy, humanitarian sphere, education, scientific and technical cooperation, as well as interaction in the sphere of foreign policy."
On December 15-16, 2016, Putin headed the Russian delegation during the visit to the Asian nation. During the state visit, the president discussed a number of issues with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in several spheres, such as economy and negotiating process of a peace treaty between Tokyo and Moscow.
