Vladimir Putin went on 45-minute rant against America during his first meeting with Barack Obama, claims memoir
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly went on a rant lasting 45 minutes against former president Barack Obama during their first meeting in Russia in 2009. The revelation has been disclosed in Obama’s upcoming memoir ‘A Promised Land’ which talks about the Democratic leader’s childhood days as well as his first term in the White House till the assassination of Osama bin Laden in May 2011.
The Sun reported on Saturday, November 14, about the Russian leader’s rant and the revelation came in the wake of him predicting in a recent interview that he will have good terms with President-elect Joe Biden because the Democratic Party shared his own “liberal values”.
However, Putin, who is rumored to step down in January owing to health reasons, did not make a similar statement when he invited Obama for breakfast in July 2009, the year the latter took over as America's first president of color, according to the new tell-all book. Biden was Obama’s No 2 in the administration during both terms.
The meeting happened at Putin’s "dacha" — a county cottage in Moscow — which turned out to be a gated mansion, Obama wrote in his book that will hit the stores on Tuesday, November 17. “Obama talks about how Putin didn’t look imposing when they posed for photos, describing him as "short and compact with a prominent nose and pale watching eyes", The Sun report said quoting a publishing source.
"He talks about how male waiters in traditional peasant dress and high leather boots served them eggs and caviar and poured tea, while Putin launched into a 'seemingly endless' diatribe about every single perceived injustice and betrayal that he said he and the Russian people had suffered at the hands of the Americans.”
Putin, a former KGB agent, also said on the occasion that he liked Obama’s predecessor George W Bush personally and reached out to him after the 9/11 attacks “to pledge his solidarity and had even offered Russia’s help in handling Saddam Hussein.”
However, Putin, 68, also accused Bush of destabilizing the entire Middle East region by invading Iraq. "But he said Bush went and invaded Iraq and accused him of destabilizing the entire Middle East.”
Obama's aides tried to cut short Putin's rant after 30 minutes
It has also been revealed that Obama’s aides present at the meeting tried to cut short the Russian president’s rant after he went on for around 30 minutes. Obama, however, reportedly decided against interrupting him as it looked his Russian opponent had rehearsed the entire episode.
Putin reportedly stopped after 45 minutes and the US president responded to him point by point in a conversation that overall lasted for two hours. However, Obama claimed that Putin was open but not enthusiastic to hear his point of view.
The Obama and Putin administrations had their worst moment in diplomacy in 2014 when Moscow annexed Crimea, resulting in Washington imposing heavy sanctions on it. Obama’s manuscript was so big that it had to be split into two volumes and ‘A Promised Land’ featuring 751 pages is part one.