Abe may meet close Putin aide on latter's trip to cultural festival next week

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is mulling the idea of holding talks with Russian Chairman of the State Duma, Sergey Naryshkin, a close aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his trip to Japan scheduled for next week, government sources said Friday.

According to the sources, the potential meeting, requested by Moscow, has not yet been green-lit by the Japanese side as Naryshkin, Russia's lower house speaker, has been sanctioned by the U.S. and Europe over Russia's actions on Crimea last year. The sanctions included Naryshkin's personal assets being frozen.

Should the meeting go ahead, however, it could pave the way for a previously planned visit here by Putin, that was delayed due to Japan also slapping sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine issue.

Naryshkin and senior Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) members have been trying to pave the way for Putin's visit, but the current sanctions have made this a balancing act for Tokyo, who, while stating that Russia is a "good friend" is trying to appease Washington and Europe who believe Tokyo has been too lenient on Russia.

Naryshkin is scheduled to attend a Japan-Russia cultural exchange event in Tokyo on May 20, according to Japanese government officials and while Naryshkin is on U.S. and Europe travel ban lists, the Japanese government will accept the visiting Russian on the pretext of a cultural exchange, officials here have confirmed.

The Russian Cultural Festival has been held annually in Tokyo since 2006 and Naryshkin once led the organizing committee on the Russian side and has visited Japan as the head of the Russian delegation.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has stated that Naryshkin's visit "should cause no problem" as he's not one of the 23 Russians Japan has currently imposed travel bans and visa restrictions on.

Regarding Naryshkin's attending the Russian Cultural Festival 2015, a senior representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "There is no need to halt exchanges in the fields of culture and sports."

In late April, Abe declined an invitation from Russia to attend events to be held in Moscow to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany and the end of Word War II in Europe.

Abe had been invited to the ceremony, but decided to skip it due to his "busy schedule", senior government personnel here stated. They added that the Japanese leader would also be busy with parliament here and related affairs following an eight-day tour the Japanese leader had recently paid to the United States.

Suga quashed notions, however, that Abe declining Moscow's invitation was connected to the Group of Seven nations (G7) denouncing and slapping sanctions on Russia due to its actions over Ukraine.

But sources close to Abe said that the prime minister had considered various factors in making his decision, including his personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

They suggested in contrast to Suga's remarks that Abe was following suit with the United States and other western countries to not take part in the commemorative WWII events in Moscow due to their disputes with Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

Suga said however that Japan was working hard to fulfill its commitment to a planned visit to Japan Putin this year, although noted that "nothing had been decided yet."

Tokyo is keen to resolve an ongoing territorial dispute with Moscow and some sources have suggested that Abe declining this official invitation from Moscow to attend the commemorative events to celebrate the end of WWII could possibly further strain ties in this regard.

The territorial dispute has been rumbling on for decades now and has prevented the two sides from signing an official peace treaty.

With rising tensions and conflicts concerning Ukraine, Abe, doesn't want to alienate Putin by following the U.S. and other countries, but at the same time Abe is cognizant of Japan's relationships with other G7 members, sources close to the matter have said.

Observers on the one hand have suggested that in light of Abe' s recent refusal to attend Moscow's ceremony, and previous sanctions levied on Russia, Putin visiting Japan this year was now far from a done deal and could adversely affect the ongoing territorial impasse between the two sides.

On the other hand, however, political watchers have noted that if Abe and Naryshkin were to hold talks during the latter's visit here next week, some inroads could be made to see Putin's visit here come to fruition earlier rather than later. Endi