Published on: 07/20/2022 – 13:25
During the tripartite summit organized in Tehran, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan kept Vladimir Putin waiting in front of the cameras for 45 seconds. A gesture that speaks volumes and that the Russian president is usually used to.
In politics, words, gestures mean something… And 45 seconds of waiting when you’re president of one of the world’s great powers, that’s a long time. Vladimir Putin knows this well, and he tried to hide his uneasiness about it cameras and cameras.
The Russian President remained standing in front of his chair and the Russian flag, hands clasped over his stomach. Embarrassed as the seconds ticked by, he began to shift his weight from foot to foot…then grimaced.
Vladimir Putin knows the importance of waiting a few tens of seconds all the better because he himself has often resorted to this practice.
Putin, no longer in a position of strength
At a meeting in Moscow in 2020, the Turkish president had to wait several minutes when meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Because Vladimir Putin’s delays can be long: he made the Queen of England wait thirteen minutes, Donald Trump forty-five and Pope Francis for an hour.
But being the patient now shows he’s no longer in a strong position. The Russian President is, of course left Tehran with visible support from the Iranian leadership, showing that it is not completely isolated on the international stage. But Iran is also a country under Western sanctions. And by keeping him waiting, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told him that supporting a country integrated into the concert of nations comes at a price.