In a now viral video on internet, Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen awkwardly waiting for Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ahead of their meeting. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, it was Putin’s first meeting with a leader of a NATO country. The Turkish premier apparently arrived late, after which the moments were captured on camera.
The Russian Premier entered the room where meeting was bound to take place. However, there was nobody present to greet Putin, and he had to wait awkwardly in front of cameras until Erdogan arrived.
For the time he was kept waiting, Putin kept fidgeting for 50 seconds, with the chairs for leaders and the flags of two countries visible in the background. Putin, meanwhile, clasped his hands and twitched his mouth, before shifting as Erdogan appeared. As Erdogan moves into frame, Putin extends his hand to greet the Turkish leader.
“Hello, how are you, good?” Erdogan asked Putin as the two leaders shook hands.
Watch the video here:
Vladimir Putin, the undisputed leader of Russia for past two decades, has a knack of keeping the world leaders waiting. In wake of that, Turkish media speculated that Erdogan’s move could be a payback for a 2020 meeting in Moscow when Mr Erdogan was left waiting for about two minutes by the Russian leader ahead of a meeting.
“Was it revenge?” asked Turkey’s T24 in its headline.
As the clip spread across the internet, it generated a lot of buzz and speculations.
Joyce Karam, senior correspondent at Middle Eastern media organisation National News, wrote in a Twitter post: “Those 50 seconds that Erdogan made Putin wait, looking frazzled in-front of cameras say plenty of how much has changed after Ukraine.”
Those 50 seconds that Erdogan made Putin wait, looking frazzled in-front of cameras say plenty of how much has changed after Ukraine: pic.twitter.com/giGirqaYYP
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) July 19, 2022
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