Unsurprisingly, Japan also needs to pursue its self-interests vis-a-vis Russia. Tokyo has scheduled a dense calendar of diplomatic exchanges with Russia through the current 2-3 month period. The deputy foreign ministers met in Tokyo on February 15; Russian FM Sergey Lavrov will visit Tokyo in mid-April. Meanwhile, Abe is despatching National Security Council chief Shotaro Yachi to Washington on Monday to explain to US officials why he (Abe) must see Putin in May before the G-7. Abe has identified the reset of Japan-Russia relations as “a diplomatic task of the highest priority”. 2016 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the 1956 Joint Declaration by Japan and the Soviet Union, in which the two agreed to continue World War II peace treaty negotiations.