Iran press/Asia: Lavrov and his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono are holding bilateral talks in Tokyo on Friday. Before being joined by their delegations, the two ministers spent more than half an hour talking tete-a-tete, Sputnik reported.
"I am sure — and hope that today's talks will confirm this — we have something to report to the president and the prime minister when they meet in late June in Osaka," Lavrov said at the beginning of the talks with his Japanese counterpart.
On Thursday, the Russian and Japanese foreign and defence ministers held talks in the so-called 2+2 format. Despite voicing disagreements over Russia's military activities in the disputed southern islands, the diplomatic and military chiefs of the two countries noted productivity of the negotiations and reaffirmed mutual desire to further develop bilateral cooperation on security.
Earlier in May, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said that Tokyo and Moscow were still discussing a possible venue and date for the Putin-Abe summit, with the meeting expected to take place around the time of G20 summit in Osaka, which is scheduled for June 28-29.
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