Is this how world fame passes?
Five heads of state, some of whom are far from superpowers, embarrassed Russian President Vladimir Putin in the last two days, forcing him to wait alone in front of the cameras for a meeting with them.
Brief background: For years, any head of state or other senior official who was scheduled to meet the Russian president knew they would have to wait - sometimes more than an hour beyond the scheduled time - for Putin to appear.
The President of Russia is indeed known to be chronically late, but when it comes to diplomatic protocol, leaving the guest to wait is an expression of strength, designed to express the status of the host.
And so over the years US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and even Pope Francis, King Juan Carlos and Queen Elizabeth II have been waiting for Putin.
But the war in Ukraine and the Russian weakness revealed in it apparently changed everything.
In recent days, a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
On the sidelines of the summit, meetings were planned for Putin with a series of presidents and then the parade of embarrassments began.
For minutes the ruler of Russia was left alone in the room, in front of the working cameras, and did not know how to deal with the situation.
On Thursday, the President of Kyrgyzstan Sadir Dzhaparov was late for the meeting with Putin:
Putin is waiting for the President of Kyrgyzstan // Credit: RIA news agency
Then also the President of Iran Ibrahim Raisi:
Putin is waiting for Raisi, photo: Reuters
And the next day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined the trend:
Putin is waiting for the Prime Minister of India // Credit: RIA news agency
And also the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev:
Putin is waiting for the President of Azerbaijan // Credit: RIA news agency
And the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan:
Putin is waiting for the President of Turkey Credit: Zvezdanews
By the way, Erdogan and Putin have a long history of mutual delays.
In 2016 Erdogan forced his Russian counterpart to wait, in 2020 Putin rewarded him with his own delay.
The last time was last July, when Putin was left alone in the room in front of the cameras:
Putin is waiting for Erdogan in July this year // Andolo
Unpleasant signs for Putin were also before the series of delays on the part of some of his interlocutors on the sidelines of the summit.
So, for example, the reception she received when he got off the plane was nothing compared to the magnificent ceremony prepared for Chinese President Xi.
Whereas in a common living room conversation for the heads of state, Putin sat on the sofa between the President of Tajikistan Rahmon and the President of Belarus Lukashenko, while the President of Turkey Erdoğan sat at the head of the table.
Erdogan is at the head of the table, next to him on the throne is the president of Azerbaijan.
On the sofa: the presidents of Tajikistan, Russia and Belarus, photo: AP
China, India, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Iran are members of the Shanghai Organization.
A number of other countries have observer or partner status.
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