Vladimir Putin rejects Akita dog sent as diplomatic gift by Japan

Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected the male Akita dog offered to him as a gift by Japan ahead of the summit between Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The two leaders have scheduled the meeting to bring an end to decades-old territorial row. Japan had planned to gift the canine to Putin during his trip to the nation on December 15 and 16. Putin is also scheduled to visit Abe's home state of western Yamaguchi.

Reports state that Japan had planned to gift the dog to President Putin, who is known as a dog lover. The nation had hoped that the dog would accompany a female Akita dog gifted to the Russian leader four years ago as a gift for Russia's help after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

However, Russia posted a reply on Monday rejecting Japan's gift proposal. "Unfortunately, we received a reply yesterday that they will not take him as the bridegroom," one of Abe's close aides Koichi Hagiuda, said in a blog on Friday.

The summit will be Putin's first visit to Japan since 2005, where Japan hopes to make a progress on decades-old territorial dispute over the status of four Pacific islands near its north coast, known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.

The territorial row, which dates back to World War 2, has strained relations between the two nations for decades. The southernmost islands in an archipelago off the northeast coast of Hokkaido was seized by Soviet troops soon after Japan surrendered in the war. The dispute between the countries over the islands has kept the nations from signing a post-war peace treaty. It has also affected investment and trade relations between the two nations.