JAPANESE MINISTER IN MOSCOW.

Japanese foreign minister Yukihiko Ikeda yesterday denied the conventional wisdom that Japan has been reticent to admit Russia into the G-7, and said that, in fact, Tokyo "positively evaluates Russia’s active contribution at summits." Ikeda is expected to meet with President Boris Yeltsin, and will also hold talks with his Russian counterpart, Yevgeny Primakov, and with First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, recently named co-chair of a joint Japanese-Russian intergovernmental trade commission. (Itar-Tass, May 21-22)

Russian Banks to Lose License.