Russian President Vladimir Putin reproached Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the fact that his country does not issue visas to Crimean residents.
At the Eastern Economic Forum, Putin recalled that Russia met the Japanese leadership halfway and abolished the visa regime for visitors to the Kuril Islands from Japan, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“We, based precisely on humanitarian considerations, are not only meeting these people halfway, meeting the requests of the Prime Minister of Japan, but we are doing this on an exclusive basis. Not everyone knows this and not everyone understands the subtlety of this exclusive. It lies in the fact that we not only create the opportunity for Japanese citizens to visit these islands, but we also do it visa-free. We understand the subtlety of this situation and are simply meeting halfway...
Of course, it is very strange for us that Japan, for example, does not issue visas not to a specific citizen, but, say, to all Crimeans. Where is Japan, and where is Crimea?” Putin emphasized.