Russian leader Putin, due for talks in Japan, is late again

Russian President Vladimir Putin. AP

NAGATO, Japan — Vladimir Putin is living up to a reputation for being late.

The Russian president was due in Japan on Thursday afternoon to start talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a hot springs resort in western Japan.

Japanese officials say Putin’s flight has departed but is behind schedule. Japanese media reported that he would arrive about three hours late in the evening.

The cause of the delay was not known.

It will be Putin’s first official visit to a G-7 country since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Abe hopes to make progress on a long-running territorial dispute between the countries.

Putin has shown up late for meetings before. He kept Pope Francis waiting at the Vatican for one hour and 20 minutes in 2015. TVJ