MOSCOW. Aug 28 (Interfax) - The Kremlin hopes that Shinzo Abe's successor in the post of prime minister of Japan will also continue to develop relations between Japan and Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.
"It's a great pity that Shinzo Abe has decided to step down as prime minister of Japan. We hope that his successor will be equally committed to further developing Russian-Japanese relations. And, of course, we wish Shinzo Abe a speedy recovery from all the health problems he mentioned," Peskov said.
Indeed, Abe has made "an invaluable contribution to the development of bilateral Russian-Japanese relations," he said.
"The president of Russia completely shares his commitment to the principle of resolving all disputes, even the most difficult ones, exclusively through talks and by promoting bilateral relations in fields of mutual interest. They do have excellent working relations. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin highly values them," Peskov said.