Advertisement
Singapore markets closed

  • Straits Times Index

    3,280.10
    -7.65 (-0.23%)
     

  • Nikkei

    37,934.76
    +306.28 (+0.81%)
     

  • Hang Seng

    17,651.15
    +366.61 (+2.12%)
     

  • FTSE 100

    8,118.66
    +39.80 (+0.49%)
     

  • Bitcoin USD

    64,106.62
    +303.23 (+0.48%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,385.05
    -11.49 (-0.82%)
     

  • S&P 500

    5,048.42
    -23.21 (-0.46%)
     

  • Dow

    38,085.80
    -375.12 (-0.98%)
     

  • Nasdaq

    15,611.76
    -100.99 (-0.64%)
     

  • Gold

    2,358.60
    +16.10 (+0.69%)
     

  • Crude Oil

    84.16
    +0.59 (+0.71%)
     

  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.7060
    +0.0540 (+1.16%)
     

  • FTSE Bursa Malaysia

    1,575.16
    +5.91 (+0.38%)
     

  • Jakarta Composite Index

    7,036.08
    -119.22 (-1.67%)
     

  • PSE Index

    6,628.75
    +53.87 (+0.82%)
     

Japan's Abe oversees puppy handover to Russian Olympic champion

  • Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe poses with an Akita Inu puppy presented to Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova, in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    1/7

    Japanese PM Abe poses with an Akita Inu puppy presented to Russian figure skating gold medallist Zagitova, in Moscow

    Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe poses with an Akita Inu puppy presented to Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova, in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    Reuters
  • Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova kisses an Akita Inu puppy presented to her in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    2/7

    Russian figure skating gold medallist Zagitova kisses an Akita Inu puppy presented to her in Moscow

    Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova kisses an Akita Inu puppy presented to her in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    Reuters
  • Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie Abe pet an Akita Inu puppy presented to Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova, in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    3/7

    Japanese PM Abe and his wife Akie pet an Akita Inu puppy presented to Russian figure skating gold medallist Zagitova, in Moscow

    Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie Abe pet an Akita Inu puppy presented to Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova, in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    Reuters
  • Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova kisses an Akita Inu puppy presented to her in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    4/7

    Russian figure skating gold medallist Zagitova kisses an Akita Inu puppy presented to her in Moscow

    Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova kisses an Akita Inu puppy presented to her in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    Reuters
  • Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie Abe watch an Akita Inu puppy presented to Russian skater Alina Zagitova, who who won Olympic gold in Pyeongchang, in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    5/7

    Japanese PM Abe and his wife Akie watch an Akita Inu puppy presented to Russian figure skating gold medallist Zagitova in Moscow

    Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie Abe watch an Akita Inu puppy presented to Russian skater Alina Zagitova, who who won Olympic gold in Pyeongchang, in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    Reuters
  • Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova and Endo Takashi, head of the Association for the preservation of the purity of the Akito breed, pose with an Akita Inu puppy presented to her in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    6/7

    Russian figure skating gold medallist Zagitova and head of the Association for the preservation of the purity of the Akito breed Takashi pose with an Akita Inu puppy presented to her in Moscow

    Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova and Endo Takashi, head of the Association for the preservation of the purity of the Akito breed, pose with an Akita Inu puppy presented to her in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    Reuters
  • Endo Takashi, head of the Association for the preservation of the purity of the Akito breed, presents an Akita Inu puppy to Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    7/7

    Head of the Association for the preservation of the purity of the Akito breed Takashi presents an Akita Inu puppy to Russian figure skating gold medallist Zagitova in Moscow

    Endo Takashi, head of the Association for the preservation of the purity of the Akito breed, presents an Akita Inu puppy to Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    Reuters
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe poses with an Akita Inu puppy presented to Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova, in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova kisses an Akita Inu puppy presented to her in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie Abe pet an Akita Inu puppy presented to Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova, in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova kisses an Akita Inu puppy presented to her in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie Abe watch an Akita Inu puppy presented to Russian skater Alina Zagitova, who who won Olympic gold in Pyeongchang, in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova and Endo Takashi, head of the Association for the preservation of the purity of the Akito breed, pose with an Akita Inu puppy presented to her in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
Endo Takashi, head of the Association for the preservation of the purity of the Akito breed, presents an Akita Inu puppy to Russian figure skating gold medallist Alina Zagitova in Moscow, Russia May 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
Reuters

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on a three-day visit to Russia, took part on Saturday in the handing over of an Akita puppy to Russian Olympic champion figure skater Alina Zagitova.

The three-month old female puppy has been offered to the teenage Pyeongchang Winter Olympic gold medallist by a group dedicated to preserving the Japanese breed.

Abe, who arrived in Russia on Thursday for an economic forum in St Petersburg, is due to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin later on Saturday in the Kremlin.

Accompanied by his wife, Abe petted the fluffy dog before it was handed over to the 16-year-old Zagitova.

ADVERTISEMENT

Zagitova fell in love with the breed while training in Japan before and during the Olympics and asked her parents to let her have an Akita puppy if she won the Games.

The puppy is called Masaru, which is a male name that means "win" or "victory".

(Reporting by Maxim Shemetov; writing by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Stephen Powell)