Overview
- Muneo Suzuki of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party met Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko in Moscow on December 26, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
- Suzuki said before the meeting that he would request the resumption next year of former residents’ grave visits to the disputed Northern Territories.
- During the talks, he also pushed for an early ceasefire in the war in Ukraine, as reported by Japanese media citing his outreach.
- The Russian side praised his engagement but said full-scale exchanges would require Japan to drop its hostile stance and remove sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine.
- Japan still advises against travel to Russia under a Level 3 alert with limited exceptions, and the government says lawmakers’ private trips are their responsibility; this was Suzuki’s third visit since the invasion and his first since Sanae Takaichi became prime minister.