Abe congratulates Putin on re-election

full of hatred against Japanese gov't here. Do you know how prime minister is elected in Japan?

Congratulations from one very corrupt politician to another, Who care what the people want as long as we stay in power.

Just. etiquette by head of a country.

Aleksei Navalny may be the opposition but he has previous form for dodgy associations.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/07/is-aleksei-navalny-a-liberal-or-a-nationalist/278186/

Devil and deep blue sea, I reckons.

Good old Abe... congratulates and adores Duterte, jumps up and down and Trump's heels for a bone, and looks up to Putin's abilities to manipulate the vote and subjugate the people. No doubt he feels nostalgic and wants to ask how he did it.

@yuri. You sound like Hilary. Even her top party officials told her to move along and shut up. What is done is done.usa, Russia and China are top, under that is all the smaller than boss countries. The rest of the world should party and have a good time.

Horrible! It was 100% fake election, and Putin fake president (but maybe really dictator) I can say it because I am Russian.

They wouldn't let the only genuine opposition candidate with a hope, Alexei Navalny, actually run. At that point it was obvious it was going to be another "managed" election.

Horrible! It was 100% fake election, and Putin fake president (but maybe really dictator) I can say it because I am Russian.

To be honest, the way the U.K is headed lately, anti-free speech and unofficial secular blasphemy laws against any criticism of Islam in Britain, its getting increasingly harder to see the difference between Putin and May.

Still, I guess Britain still has a strong democratic election process unlike Russia, even if some people don't like democratic outcomes like Brexit. Somewhat understandable I guess when you reflect on the nonsensical propaganda during that time. No doubt, democracy throughout the entirety of the West needs a very serious rejuvenation towards a more factual and reasoned underpinning.

Abe is in a delicate situation with Russia. Whether the islands are returned or not, Japan doesn't need a belligerent Russia on its northern frontiers. China is more than enough to worry about. I can understand the desire to keep relations cordial even if it smacks of "dancing with dictators", a colourful turn of phrase the Australian media recently put forward when writing about Aung San Suu Kyi.

Why would PM Abe criticize democratically elected President Putin?

What was democratic about the Russian election? Putin was too much of a coward to allow a free vote, so he disqualified the most popular opposition candidates, claiming they were corrupt. If that's the case crooked Putin should also be disqualified as he is the most corrupt person in Russia. Putin was still so scared of losing that he resorted to stuffing ballot boxes. If you think that's a democracy you don't understand the meaning of the word.

Abe-san is eyeing negotiating return of Japans 4 islands, likely by 2020

Putin does not give away territory, just ask the Moldovans, Georgians and Ukrainians, whose countries Putin has invaded. Japan has zero chance of ever gaining control of any of those 4 islands. Abe is a fool if he thinks otherwise.

Putin and Russia should be isolated. Abe is doing the world no favours by putting Japan's narrow self interests above global stability.

Dictators? Putin was democratically elected and now holds the record of most popular leader in the world.

abe is just brown-mouthing cause he sees Putin as a role model like his grandfather. But Putin is a smart and popular, ex kgb, judo master, mafia boss who wrestles with bears and swims in snow filled lakes. Abe is a ex failed PM, who has destroyed the Japanese economy and society.

Congratulating Putin, is very typical Abe,

understandably he is hoping to stay relevant on the World Stage even if it means

cozying up to dictators and trying to project this false image of power about the

Korean issues that frankly Japan is not directly needed for in the discussion at this point.

Congratulations on rigging the election more like. Am not sure if any foreign leader is really glad that they have to deal with Putin for another 6 years..

As you can see, many people here disagree with you. Putin does things to the utmost fairness and is an absolute pleasure to be around.

Abe-san is eyeing negotiating return of Japans 4 islands, likely by 2020

I’ll give you 100/1 on that.

Why would PM Abe critcize demicratically elected President Putin? Relationship between Japan and Russia is improving. Abe-san is eyeing negotiating return of Japans 4 islands, likely by 2020,and joint gas development in northern territories.So why would Abe-san make a claim Putin tried to “assassinate” a spy in London? Not important or relevant to Japan.Good retations and negitating for the islands is the ONLY important thing.

Vladimir  Putin has won Russian Presidential  election on 19 March , 2018 with very high percentage of votes in his favor. This has fuelled opinion in a section of media of increase in cold war across the globe. But this writer is of the pinion that Putin’s grand success putting him in saddle of  Russia for six years more ,  in already tense global defense and security sector , could trend to introduce   world    into hot war .  This Vedic astrology writer has already ,  last year  on 11 October , 2017 , sought to  alert  the global community   for more care , patience and appropriate strategy     during 2018 , could be July-August ,  through article - “ Astrological probable alerts for the United States in 2018”- published  in monthly Webzine of Wisdom Magazine  from the US at wisdom-magazine.com/Article.aspx/4647/  on 1 December , 2017.

Japan didn’t get the memo I guess.

Congratulations on rigging the election more like. Am not sure if any foreign leader is really glad that they have to deal with Putin for another 6 years..

the two leaders agreed to work together to help achieve North Korea's denuclearisation, the foreign ministry said.

If anybody gets to take credit for this if it happens, then it will be the South Korean president Moon, who got this ball rolling when everyone else was talking more aggressive measures including starving them into submission.

Referring to the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain, Abe told Putin that the use of chemical weapons was not acceptable.

"Above all it is important to clarify the facts,"

oh boy. what a cop-out.. just don't bring it up then you idiot. It wasn't in Japan.