Osaka: Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on hosting a successful G20 summit.

“First of all, I would like to congratulate you and your colleagues on hosting a successful G20 summit. It was a great job, and you deserve credit for the fact that it ended with such results,” Putin said at the talks with Abe on Saturday. “It was very difficult to coordinate positions, very often diametrically opposite ones, on the key global development issues, on the development of the global economy,” the Russian leader stressed.

Earlier in the day, Putin told reporters at a news conference that he was satisfied with the results of the G20 summit despite previous skepticism. He stressed that Japan did a lot to ensure that the summit is effective, and that’s precisely what happened.