Japanese parliamentarians meet at Russian Foreign Ministry

The prospect of stepping up interaction between Russia and Japan in the international arena has been discussed by Alexander Losyukov, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister, and Japanese parliamentarians led by prominent political and public figure Tositsugu Saito, said the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The sides also discussed the state of and prospects for interparliamentary exchanges, said the Russian foreign policy establishment.

Saito expressed condolences over the floods in the South of Russia to the friends and relatives of those deceased during the tragedy.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Japanese side declared readiness to provide assistance minding Japan's large experience of eliminating the aftermath of natural calamities". In this connection, the conferees agreed to launch interaction between the two countries' corresponding services.

The Japanese MPs also expressed readiness to participate as much as they can in preparations for and holding of events to mark Japan's Year in Russia, due in 2003. An agreement on that was reached at a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the G8 summit meeting in Canada.