The Abe administration is sending Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida to Moscow from Sept. 20 to set the stage for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Japan within the year, government sources said Friday.
The decision comes despite repeated visits by top Russian officials to islands at the heart of a long-standing dispute between the two nations. Japan decided not to postpone Kishida's trip until October or later for fear that doing so could jeopardize Putin's visit, slated for later this year, the sources said.
Even as Russia defied Japan's repeated protests to not allow Russian Cabinet members to visit some of the Russian-held, Japanese-claimed islands, the government has begun arrangements to schedule Kishida's trip from Sept. 20 to 23, according to the sources.