Overview

• Putin hosted Akie Abe at the Kremlin on May 29 in a private meeting held outside any official diplomatic framework.
• He paid tribute to her husband’s dream of a post-war peace treaty, recalling Abe had pursued 27 meetings with Putin during his premiership.
• The Russian leader presented flowers and lent his Aurus limousine for Abe to attend a performance at the Bolshoi Theatre.
• Tokyo’s chief cabinet secretary confirmed Japan had no prior notice of Abe’s visit and does not regard it as an official state engagement.
• The encounter follows Akie Abe’s reception by then-US president-elect Donald Trump and underscores Moscow’s use of cultural gestures to soften ties frozen by sanctions.