Pro-Moscow lawmaker Muneo Suzuki visits Russia once more

For the second time in lower than a 12 months, impartial Upper House lawmaker Muneo Suzuki has defied the central authorities by flying to Moscow for talks with senior Russian officers.

Suzuki, who departed Sunday, met the deputy head of the Russian fisheries company, Andrei Yakovlev, on Monday. He sought permission from Russia for Japanese fishing fleets to reap konbu (kelp) within the waters across the Habomai islets off Hokkaido. Earlier this month, the Russian Foreign Ministry introduced that it was suspending permission for harvesting konbu, saying that repairs to a lighthouse have been wanted.

Suzuki deliberate to fulfill Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, a former Russian ambassador to Japan, on Tuesday to debate the opportunity of as soon as once more permitting ancestral grave visits by former residents of Russian-held islands off Hokkaido, that are claimed by Japan. They embrace Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashiri and Etorofu.