Russian President Vladimir Putin has long maintained a certain physical distance from his visitors – but now he could have distanced himself too much from his audience in terms of content. After a festive speech, he waits for the rather extensive applause, but this time there is no applause.
17 new ambassadors from the EU and the US were invited to their inauguration at the Kremlin on Wednesday. But the public’s reaction to Putin has been extremely cautious, not least because of the war in Ukraine.
Putin is amazed
First of all, he lashed out at Western states in a typical way: relations with the US were in a “deep crisis”, the EU had entered into a confrontation with Russia, he scolded, while at the same time emphasizing that the Kremlin is in ready in principle for a dialogue with all states “on an equal footing”. When he ended his speech with a smile and the words “Thank you for your attention,” instead of the usual applause, there was only an awkward pause.
A little stunned, the head of state then added: “That’s it”, but again there was no response from the public. Now visibly annoyed, Putin added: “Unfortunately we have to end our ceremony with this,” he stuttered that strict corona rules were still in place.
So it won’t be possible to speak to each other face to face either”, but I’m sure we’ll get this opportunity many times in the future. All the best for you, thank you!” Somewhat embarrassed, he immediately stepped aside, waved goodbye and repeated “all the best” in English – but this time the crowd fell silent.
Two levels of hygiene distance
The video of the performance has since circulated on social media and sparked much anger at the president. Shared hundreds of times, users make fun of Putin in the comments. It is also pointed out that, although Putin kept the diplomats at a distance, on the same day beforehand he hugged Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko and other state guests and shook hands extensively.
Source: Krone
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