Japan's overtures to Russia to join its fold bound to fail

Although Japan is aligned with the United States and the two countries have formed a "united front" against Russia, it has not stopped Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from visiting twice this year the country suffering the consequences of the West's sanctions.

Abe met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the second Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Sept 2-3, which was initiated by Moscow to attract foreign investment to help develop its Far East.

Before leaving for Russia, Abe handed Japan's minister of trade, industry and economic affairs Hiroshige Seko the additional charge of the newly-created government department handling Tokyo's economic cooperation with Moscow. During his visit to Russia, Abe was accompanied by a 150-strong group of Japanese businesspeople, including Softbank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son and chairman of Japanese trading giant Marubeni, Teruo Asada.