Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering a request by Moscow to meet with Russian State Duma Chairman Sergey Naryshkin during his visit to Japan next week, sources said Friday.
Naryshkin is seen as close to President Vladimir Putin. Abe has not decided yet on whether to meet with him, as the lower house speaker is among Russian officials subject to European and U.S. sanctions. Those measures include an asset freeze and were imposed after Russia annexed Crimea last March.
If realized, Abe and Naryshkin are likely to discuss a possible visit by Putin to Japan, which was put off last year and has yet to be rescheduled.
Naryshkin is slated to arrive next Tuesday for a three-day visit. He will attend the Russian Cultural Festival 2015 starting in Tokyo the following day and will hold talks with his Japanese counterpart, House of Representatives Speaker Tadamori Oshima, the sources said.