Putin left waiting by Erdogan in ‘payback snub’

President Putin was left awkwardly loitering and apparently annoyed in front of cameras for 50 seconds by his Turkish counterpart before talks in Tehran.

The Turkish media was quick to point out the trick was straight out of Putin’s own playbook, with the Russian leader famed for turning up late and making other world leaders wait.

In Moscow in 2020, Putin left President Erdogan waiting for roughly two minutes ahead of a meeting. Turkey’s T24 news website questioned whether Erdogan’s latest stunt was “revenge”.

The meeting in Iran was Putin’s first with a leader of a Nato-member country since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

A video released by the Turkish presidency showed Putin standing waiting in front of the nations’ two flags. His hands clasped and mouth twitching, Putin looks visibly annoyed as he shifts from side to side before Erdogan appears.

 “Hello, how are you, good?” said Erdogan, before the pair smiled and shook hands.

Joyce Karam, a senior correspondent for The National, a newspaper in Abu Dhabi, said on Twitter that the stunt was “sweet payback for Erdogan who in 2020 was humiliated by Putin as he made him wait 2 minutes in a power game play in Russia”.

Following the meeting with Erdogan and Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Putin said Russia was ready to facilitate Ukrainian grain exports.

The war in Ukraine has prevented ships from leaving Black Sea ports due to a Russian blockade. Ukrainian grain is said to feed up to 400 million people globally and shortages of wheat will put 47 million more people in acute hunger if shipments are not resumed, according to the World Food Programme.

Putin said not all the issues had been resolved on grain shipments “but the fact that there is movement is already good”.

The Ukrainian government has not responded to his remarks.