He recalled a joint declaration released on Sept. 28, 2010, by leaders of Russia and China to mark the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II, which condemned any attempts to falsify the history of World War II, to excuse the Nazis, militarists and their accomplices, and to smear liberators.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, held a phone conversation on the eve of 2014, during which both sides opposed Abe‘s visit to the shrine, deeming it a provocation to Japan‘s Asian neighbors.