Watch: Turkish President Erdogan keeps Vladimir Putin waiting ahead of talks in Iran

During talks in Tehran on Tuesday (July 19), Russian President Vladimir Putin was kept awkwardly waiting for his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to arrive. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with the Russian president while he was in Iran. The Russian president was seen in the meeting video shuffling his feet and sucking his cheeks while he waited nearly a minute for his counterpart to arrive.

Putin is travelling abroad for the second time since he invaded Ukraine. Although he apparently pays close attention to coronavirus risks, he wasn't wearing a mask or acting in a socially awkward manner.

The incident was compared in the media to past times when Putin left world leaders to cool their heels, most notably in Moscow in 2020, when Erdogan was kept waiting for almost two minutes before a meeting by the Russian leader. "Was it revenge?" read the headline on the T24 website in Turkey.

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Since his nation invaded Ukraine in late February, Putin's first meeting with a NATO alliance president took place in Iran. Before Erdogan entered the room, Putin was seen in a video released by the Turkish presidency standing in front of his chair and the two national flags of the two countries with his hands clasped, his mouth moving, and his demeanour altering. Putin next positions his hands at his sides.

Hello, and how are you today? Erdogan said as they shook hands and smiled at one another.

Earlier, Vladim Putin suggested that Europe would once again receive gas through a key pipeline, but he also issued a warning that flows would be severely constrained unless a dispute over parts that had been sanctioned was resolved. Europe is anxiously awaiting the conclusion of Thursday's scheduled maintenance on the Nord Stream pipeline to learn whether gas shipments will resume. The most direct threat so far came from Putin, who stated that Moscow plans to restart at least some flows.

(With inputs from agencies)

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