Vladimir Putin makes Donald Trump wait for over an hour; netizens call it ‘power move’
Putin kept Trump waiting over an hour for a phone call on the Ukraine war, ultimately refusing a requested ceasefire and only agreeing to limit attacks on energy infrastructure
Russian president Vladimir Putin kept Donald Trump waiting for over an hour after their scheduled call on the Ukraine-Russia war was supposed to begin.
Social media was quick to react, especially after a viral video of Putin attending another event during the scheduled time of the call, says Mint.
In the viral video, Putin laughed off a warning about being late for the call.
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According to The Sun, the Russian president was speaking to industrialists and businessmen at an annual event in Moscow on Tuesday between 4 pm and 6 pm Russian time, right before his scheduled phone call with Trump.
A little after 4 pm, the event host reminded Putin that he was getting late for the call. The Russian president was filmed smirking and shrugging.
Watch Putin's viral video here:
How did netizens react to the viral video?
Several social media users called it the 'humiliation' of Donald Trump and said it was Putin's way of showing who had the real power in this equation.
"Underlined where the power in the Trump-Putin dynamic really lies," a user said.
"The ultimate test of whether Trump will submit. In terms of his personality, this humiliation should be particularly hard for Trump, and he should react accordingly. If he does NOT react, the matter is clear," said another.
Some users wondered if Trump would treat Putin like he treated Ukraine's President Zelensky.
"Now the real question: will Trump keep up his usual arrogance, like he did in the Oval Office, when facing Zelensky? Or will his tough-guy act crumble the moment he's not posturing for the cameras?" a user asked.
"Putin keeping Trump waiting is a message. To the oligarchs, it says their loyalty still matters. To the world, it shows he dictates the terms, even to those who once claimed to command him," claimed another user.
However, a netizen claimed there had been some translation error, and the call was made at the agreed time.
"This is incorrect. The joke was that the other guy asked Putin whether his call with Trump was to start at 6 PM, as Peskov had said. Putin waved him away, saying, 'Don't listen to him—that's his job,' which elicited laughter since Peskov is literally the spokesman for the Kremlin. This was not about Trump. The call was made at the agreed-upon time," the user said.
Did Vladimir Putin finally talk to Donald Trump?
According to The Sun, Putin reached the Kremlin around 5 pm - an hour after the call was supposed to begin.
The two world leaders eventually connected for an hour-and-a-half phone call on Tuesday.
During the call, Putin refused to give Donald Trump the 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine the US president and his team had requested, reported Bloomberg. Instead, he agreed only to limit attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
