Russian President Vladimir Putin disclosed that he briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his discussions with US President Donald Trump in Alaska while the two leaders rode together in his Russian-made Aurus limousine on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China.
Putin’s remarks offered the first insight into his widely discussed limousine ride with Modi during the recently concluded 25th SCO summit in Tianjin.
“This is no secret, I told him (Modi) what we talked about in Alaska,” Vladimir Putin added at a press conference in China, according to Russian news agency TASS.
"Of course we spoke English. Broken English. I had very limited talks with President Trump as the ride took some 30 seconds. I told him that I was glad to see him alive and healthy. It was more of a small talk," he further revealed.
PM Modi later posted on X about the unusual carpool. "After the proceedings at the SCO Summit venue, President Putin and I travelled together to the venue of our bilateral meeting. Conversations with him are always insightful," the Prime Minister tweeted.
The Russian president waited about 10 minutes for Modi to join him before boarding the car. The trip to their meeting venue lasted around 15 minutes, but they continued their discussion for an additional 45 minutes inside the vehicle.
“The two leaders continued their one-to-one dialogue on the way to the hotel, where they were to be joined by members of their teams. However, on reaching the hotel, they did not deboard the Russian president's limousine and continued their conversation for a further 45 minutes," reported Russian national radio station VestiFM.
Later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the two leaders held a private, hour-long discussion inside the car.
“He did not want to interrupt the important conversation. But the 'home walls' of the car also played a role,” Peskov told a pool TV reporter covering Putin’s visit to China.
“They were at home. That's the first thing. And secondly, when there’s an important discussion going on, there’s simply no time to interrupt walking and moving to different venues and so on. They felt comfortable there, and that’s why they continued the conversation. But the (bilateral) agenda is really more than intense,” Peskov said.
Putin's presidential limousine is highly secure against eavesdropping, which experts in Moscow suggest may explain why the two leaders were able to discuss highly sensitive bilateral matters.
According to analysts, this was likely the most significant confidential conversation between Modi and Putin, during which they probably addressed issues “not for the ears of others.”
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