Abe to Hold Meetings with Leaders of U.S., China, Russia

November 29, 2018

Tokyo--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hold meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping soon, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday.

The meetings will take place on the sidelines of a two-day Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires from Friday. Also planned is a three-way meeting among Abe, Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

After attending the G-20 summit, Abe will visit Uruguay and Paraguay, becoming the first Japanese prime minister to do so. He is set to leave Japan on Thursday and return home on Tuesday.

Abe and Trump will discuss a proposed bilateral trade agreement on goods, or TAG, for which negotiations are slated to start as early as January next year.

With Putin, Abe hopes to speed up talks to solve the two countries' territorial dispute over the four Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands claimed by Japan in order to conclude a post-World War II bilateral peace treaty.

Abe is seen exchanging opinions with Xi over his planned visit to Japan next year.

Suga said at a press conference, "As next year's holder of the G-20 presidency, Japan will facilitate discussions (in Buenos Aires) so that participating countries will release a united message for global economic growth,"

Japan will host a G-20 summit in the western city of Osaka in June 2019. Jiji Press