The United States is not disturbed by reports of potentially deepening ties between Japan and Russia, US Department of State spokesman John Kirby said.
"We are not concerned or worried about bilateral relations between Russia and Japan and we leave it to them to define what the relationship is going to be," Kirby said.
"Nothing has changed about our view that it's still not time for 'business-of-usual' with Russia across a wide variety of sectors given the concerns that we still have about their actions in Ukraine, the occupation of Crimea and the tensions that still exist," Kirby added.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Kremlin press service confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum on September 2. Putin is also expected to visit Japan in December and will discuss the details of the trip with Abe next week.
