Japanese ambassador leaves Russia’s MFA after 25 minutes inside building

MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. Japanese Ambassador to Moscow Akira Muto left the Russian Foreign Ministry building without making any comments after spending 25 minutes there on Tuesday morning, a TASS correspondent reported.

The diplomat was summoned to Russia’s MFA over Tokyo’s protest after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Kuril Island of Iturup.

In response to a TASS reporter’s question, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Japanese embassy initially `hesitated’ as it said that the diplomat would not be able to make it to the MFA either on August 14 or August 17, but did not provide any clear reason why. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Muto "suddenly felt much better" after Lavrov’s remark and decided to come on August 18.