Abe's Absence from Russian Event Not to Affect Dialogue: Envoy

Tokyo, May 7 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's planned absence from a ceremony in Moscow to mark the 70th anniversary of the former Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany will not affect Russo-Japanese political dialogue, Russian Ambassador to Japan Evgeny Afanasiev said Thursday. In a press conference at the Russian embassy in Tokyo, Afanasiev said it is up to each foreign leader to decide whether to attend the ceremony, scheduled for Saturday, adding that Moscow will respect such decisions. The Russian government had invited Abe to attend the ceremony. But the Japanese government replied that he will not take part due to scheduling difficulties. As Japan, in cooperation with other Group of Seven member nations, has imposed sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis, however, it is believed that Tokyo made the decision on Abe's absence by putting priority on G-7 unity. Afanasiev stressed the importance of the agreement between Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin that the two countries would make preparations to realize the Russian leader's visit to Japan at an appropriate time in 2015. Top-level dialogue must be continued when there is a complex problem, the envoy said, adding that the approach that uses only sanctions, without dialogue, is not helpful. Abe and Putin reached the agreement when they held a bilateral meeting in Beijing in November on the fringes of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit. END