TOKYO: Japan’s government is planning to waive tourist visa requirements from some countries as part of a further easing of border controls enacted to stop the spread of COVID-19, Fuji News Network reported on Monday.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may decide as early as this week on the easing, which would also allow individual travelers to visit Japan without travel agency bookings, FNN reported. Japan did not require tourist visas for 68 countries and regions before the pandemic.
The government may scrap a daily cap on arrivals by October, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday.
Deputy chief cabinet secretary Seiji Kihara said on a television program on Sunday that “a weak yen is most effective in attracting inbound tourism,” adding that further steps must be taken to draw in foreign visitors.
Japan last week raised the daily ceiling of inbound travelers to 50,000 from 20,000 and eliminated a requirement for pre-departure COVID tests, easing what have been among the most restrictive border measures among major economies.
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Japan to waive tourist visa requirements as part of border easing
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Japan to waive tourist visa requirements as part of border easing
- Easing would also allow individual travelers to visit Japan without travel agency bookings
US, Russian officials to meet in Florida for more Ukraine talks
- US negotiators held talks with Ukrainian, European officials on Friday
- Putin says Ukraine must abandon NATO ambitions, withdraw from claimed regions
WASHINGTON: Negotiators are set to meet Russian officials in Florida on Saturday for the latest talks aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, as President Donald Trump’s administration tries to coax an agreement out of both Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict.
The meeting follows US talks on Friday with Ukrainian and European officials, the latest discussions of a peace plan that has sparked some hope of a resolution to the conflict that began when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. President Vladimir Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, is leading the Russian delegation that will meet with property tycoon-turned-diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Marco Rubio, Trump’s top diplomat and national security adviser, said he may also join the talks. Previous meetings have taken place at Witkoff’s golf club in Miami’s Hallandale Beach. US, Ukrainian and European officials earlier this week reported progress on security guarantees for Kyiv as part of the talks to end the war, but it remains unclear if those terms will be acceptable to Moscow.
A Russian source told Reuters that any meeting between Dmitriev and the Ukrainian negotiators had been ruled out.
PUTIN OFFERING NO COMPROMISE
US intelligence reports continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to capture all of Ukraine, sources familiar with the intelligence said, contradicting some US officials’ assertions that Moscow is ready for peace. Putin offered no compromise during his annual press conference in Moscow, insisting that Russia’s terms for ending the war had not changed since June 2024, when he demanded Ukraine abandon its ambition to join NATO and withdraw entirely from four Ukrainian regions Russia claims as its own territory.
Kyiv says it will not cede land that Moscow’s forces have failed to capture in nearly four years of war.
Ukraine’s top negotiator Rustem Umerov said US and European teams on Friday held talks and agreed to pursue their joint efforts.
“We agreed with our American partners on further steps and on continuing our joint work in the near future,” Umerov wrote on Telegram of the discussions in the United States, adding that he had informed President Volodymyr Zelensky of the outcome of the talks.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rubio told reporters earlier on Friday that progress has been made in discussions to end the war but there is still a way to go.
“In the end, it’s up to them to make a deal. We can’t force Ukraine to make a deal. We can’t force Russia to make a deal. They have to want to make a deal,” Rubio said.
“The role we’re trying to play is a role of figuring out whether there’s any overlap here that they can agree to, and that’s what we’ve invested a lot of time and energy and continue to do so. That may not be possible. I hope it is. I hope it can get done this month before the end of the year.”
The meeting follows US talks on Friday with Ukrainian and European officials, the latest discussions of a peace plan that has sparked some hope of a resolution to the conflict that began when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. President Vladimir Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, is leading the Russian delegation that will meet with property tycoon-turned-diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Marco Rubio, Trump’s top diplomat and national security adviser, said he may also join the talks. Previous meetings have taken place at Witkoff’s golf club in Miami’s Hallandale Beach. US, Ukrainian and European officials earlier this week reported progress on security guarantees for Kyiv as part of the talks to end the war, but it remains unclear if those terms will be acceptable to Moscow.
A Russian source told Reuters that any meeting between Dmitriev and the Ukrainian negotiators had been ruled out.
PUTIN OFFERING NO COMPROMISE
US intelligence reports continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to capture all of Ukraine, sources familiar with the intelligence said, contradicting some US officials’ assertions that Moscow is ready for peace. Putin offered no compromise during his annual press conference in Moscow, insisting that Russia’s terms for ending the war had not changed since June 2024, when he demanded Ukraine abandon its ambition to join NATO and withdraw entirely from four Ukrainian regions Russia claims as its own territory.
Kyiv says it will not cede land that Moscow’s forces have failed to capture in nearly four years of war.
Ukraine’s top negotiator Rustem Umerov said US and European teams on Friday held talks and agreed to pursue their joint efforts.
“We agreed with our American partners on further steps and on continuing our joint work in the near future,” Umerov wrote on Telegram of the discussions in the United States, adding that he had informed President Volodymyr Zelensky of the outcome of the talks.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rubio told reporters earlier on Friday that progress has been made in discussions to end the war but there is still a way to go.
“In the end, it’s up to them to make a deal. We can’t force Ukraine to make a deal. We can’t force Russia to make a deal. They have to want to make a deal,” Rubio said.
“The role we’re trying to play is a role of figuring out whether there’s any overlap here that they can agree to, and that’s what we’ve invested a lot of time and energy and continue to do so. That may not be possible. I hope it is. I hope it can get done this month before the end of the year.”
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