Russia wants visa-free travel deal with Japan

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow asked Tokyo to introduce a visa-free travel regime and hopes to continue discussing this possibility.

“We have reminded about the Russian proposal to introduce a visa-free travel regime between Russia and Japan, starting from business and tourist trips,” Lavrov said after talks with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono.

“We hope that dialogue on this issue continues,” he added.

“As a first step, we reminded about the initiative of President Putin to introduce a visa-free travel regime for all residents of the Sakhalin region and Hokkaido prefecture,” he noted.