Tokyo, Sept. 20 (Jiji Press)–Yohei Sasakawa, honorary chair of the Nippon Foundation, a Japanese charity group, met with senior Russian government officials, including Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko, in Moscow this month. At a press conference at the Japanese Embassy in the Russian capital on Saturday, Sasakawa revealed that, during the talks on Friday, he proposed switching to a future-oriented approach to Japan-Russia relations, which have been deteriorating in recent years. “We can’t ignore relations with Russia from a geopolitical perspective,” Sasakawa stressed. He noted that the Russian side is also “eager to rebuild ties with Japan.” During his September 2025 visit to Russia, Sasakawa met with Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who is close to President Vladimir Putin. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
