Tokyo criticized a sudden trip to Moscow by a Japanese senator who met with the deputy foreign minister of Russia on Tuesday.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Muneo Suzuki’s trip is the first recorded appearance by a Japanese politician. Japan backed Western partners in imposing sanctions on Moscow as a result of the crisis.
“The government wasn’t briefed by Suzuki on the Russia visit this time, before or after,” spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said.
“We’re issuing a warning… of cancelling travels to Russia and no matter what the purpose is, we’re urging all citizens to refrain from travelling to Russia,” Matsuno told reporters.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Suzuki met with deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko on Monday.
“The Russian side noted a significant contribution by the Japanese MP to the development of the bilateral ties,” the ministry statement said Tuesday.
“We regretfully state that the legacy of two countries’ cooperation, accumulated over decades, is being purposefully destroyed by the sanctions policy implemented by Tokyo in order to please the United States and the anti-Russian course of the ‘collective West,'” it said.
Suzuki, a representative of the center-right opposition Japan Innovation Party, has long supported close ties between Japan and Russia.
After World War II, he played a significant role in the foreign ministry’s initiatives to resolve territorial disputes with Russia.
According to his secretary Shinji Akamatsu, the member of the upper house left for Moscow on Sunday “for an inspection tour”.
Suzuki “is visiting from the viewpoint of national interest based on his own belief”, Akamatsu said.
A party official stated that Suzuki’s party will meet with the member after his return, suggesting that the politician may have broken a party rule by neglecting to submit travel arrangements before his departure.
Suzuki’s visit is “not desirable,” according to Toshimitsu Motegi, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
In the early 2000s, Suzuki was forced to resign from the LDP as a result of corruption and political fundraising issues.
