TOKYO, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - Talks between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin could take place next week, should the leaders attend the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) scheduled for October 10-12 in Milan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Thursday.
"If Prime Minister Abe and Russian President Putin take part in ASEM, we believe that in this case they could exchange a few words in one form or another," Suga said at a press conference in Tokyo.
Should the informal meeting between the leaders take place next week, it will mark their first discussion since February, when the Japanese prime minister attended the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in Sochi.
The sideline talks could also lead to the agreement upon the date of Putin's Japan visit scheduled for fall.
The spokesman said that the question of the visit "will be decided on the basis of comprehensive consideration of various factors." It is also still not known when Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will visit Russia, a visit first scheduled in April but postponed indefinitely due to the situation in Ukraine.
Since the end of September, Abe and Putin have taken part in two telephone conversations both of which were prompted by one another's birthdays. During the first conversation on September 21, the leaders briefly discussed plans to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit slated for November 4-11 in Beijing, China.
