MOSCOW, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin made a phone call on Monday to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to thank him for his contribution to the development of bilateral cooperation.

Abe, for his part, highly appreciated the many years of constructive interaction with Putin, a Kremlin statement said.

Putin and Abe stressed the importance of continuing efforts to strengthen good-neighborliness between Russia and Japan in the interests of the two peoples, as well as security and stability of the entire Asia-Pacific region, the statement said.

On Friday, Abe said he is stepping down from his post for health reasons.