Russia’s bloodthirsty leader, Vladimir Putin, has been served a cold revenge dish.
Fellow Eastern dictator, Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan, left him hanging before rolling TV cameras for almost a minute, thus humiliating Putin over a similar incident back in 2020 when the roles were reversed.
Putin’s Iran Trip Reeks of Desperation
Putin’s latest humiliation occurred in Iran’s capital, Tehran.
The Russian tyrant went here to try to procure low-quality Iranian military drones and desperately demonstrate he is not in total international isolation after his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
This is only his second foreign trip since the launch of the Ukraine invasion. He was welcomed by the Iranian leaders and also supposed to have a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Erdogan.
While the meeting did indeed take place, it took a terrible turn for the Moscow tyrant. Erdogan seemingly decided to stand him up for some time.
Putin and Erdogan have been some of the best dictator frenemies out there, with diverse cooperation, but also constantly trying to outsmart each other.
Erdogan gives Putin a little taste of his own medicine pic.twitter.com/hY8RNuJRek
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) July 19, 2022
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) July 19, 2022
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
Cumhurbaşkanımız Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Astana Üçlü Zirvesi kapsamında İran'da bulunan Rusya Devlet Başkanı Vladimir Putin ile Tahran Uluslararası Konferans Salonu'nda bir araya geldi. pic.twitter.com/F3kWxD2vqT
— AK Parti (@Akparti) July 19, 2022
Erdogan Left Him Hanging With TV Cameras Rolling
As it turned out, Erdogan came a total of 48 seconds later. He, therefore, ended up leaving the Russian to twiddle his thumbs and sweat on his own in front of the TV cameras rolling to capture their handshake.
This was done to Putin, the same man who loves humiliating other leaders by showing up late. He once arrived for an audience with Queen Elizabeth II with a delay of three hours.
Putin’s critics said he was left humiliated and insulted by what they saw as a bare-faced snub; others said it showed just how far his standing has fallen since the war.
More people, however, have reacted by saying the humiliation is a symbol of how Putin and Russia’s standing in the world have fallen, due to their war of aggression against Ukraine.
According to Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine, the humiliation has shown Putin that his bunker is the best place for him.
After his meeting with Erdogan ended, the Russian president claimed they had made “progress” in negotiations about restarting Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea.
That is even though it is Russians who used their Navy to cut off Ukraine’s sea access. Russian intelligence services have been plundering Ukrainian wheat storages and trying to export the grain for profit.
Russian troops are presently just reported to be trying to destroy the new Ukrainian wheat harvest in order to starve the Ukrainians.
Putin’s subsequent words, however, demonstrated that no progress has been made whatsoever. He insisted western nations should lift their sanctions on Russia for the sea exports of Ukrainian grain to continue.
Putin talking on grain in Iran. I wonder, this increase of russia’s grain export potential in 2022 from 30 to 50 million – did russia made a quantum leap in terms of agriculture technologies this year? Or this increase is simply thanks to the grain stolen in Ukraine? pic.twitter.com/v3DGzLtIIx
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 20, 2022
Is it just an impression or is #Putin limping (and with a stiff arm) at his arrival in #Iran?🧐https://t.co/XHEBdxrIeW
— News from Ukraine (@uasupport999) July 19, 2022
In his first trip outside the former Soviet Union since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin had talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran and met face-to-face with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran https://t.co/iLgjAhmRN3 pic.twitter.com/hZ9503ZmoT
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 20, 2022
'Humiliated' Putin kept waiting for toe-curling 48 seconds by Turkey's Erdogan https://t.co/rTi8JrtlBn
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) July 20, 2022
These are the indicative estimates of Russia’s combat losses as of July 20, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/Gnpq8LKIcs
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 20, 2022