Lavrov stressed the need for Japan to abandon unfriendly policies The foreign ministers of the Russian Federation and Japan, Sergei Lavrov and Toshimitsu Mutagi, discussed bilateral relations during a meeting in Atlanta, Smolensk Square reported on Friday. "On the side of the G20 Council of Ministers, at the request of the Japanese side, there was a short conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and Japanese Foreign Minister Mutagi, during which bilateral relations were touched upon," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on the department's website on Friday after the meeting. "The Russian side emphasized that in order to resume a full interstate dialogue, Tokyo must abandon its unfriendly course," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.