Putin labels leaders’ physiques ‘disgusting’
Russian President Vladimir Putin shot back at Western leaders who mocked his athletic exploits, saying they would look “disgusting” if they tried to emulate his baretorso appearances.
Putin made the comment during a visit to Turkmenistan when asked about Western leaders joking about him at the G7 summit.
As they sat down for talks, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson jested that G7 leaders could take their clothes off to “show that we’re tougher than Putin” amid Russia-West tensions over Moscow’s military action in Ukraine.
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, said the pair should go “bare-chested horseback riding”, while Johnson said they should “show them our pecs”.
Speaking to reporters, Putin retorted that, unlike him, Western leaders abuse alcohol and don’t do sports. “I don’t know how they wanted to get undressed, above or below the waist,” he said.
“But I think it would be a disgusting sight in any case.”
The latest exchange came after Johnson and Ben Wallace, the UK Defence Secretary, criticised Putin for being “macho” and a “lunatic”.
Wallace, who has previously accused Putin of going “full tonto” by invading Ukraine, doubled down on his comments. “I certainly think Putin’s view of himself and the world is a small man syndrome, macho view.”
Meanwhile, Bernie Ecclestone was branded a “shocking apologist” for Putin by Liz Truss, the UK Foreign Secretary, after the former boss of Formula One said he would “take a bullet” for the Russian president.
Ecclestone, 91, provoked outrage with an extraordinary defence of Putin during a live interview on breakfast television.
Asked on Good Morning Britain if he still regarded Putin as a friend, Ecclestone replied: “I’d still take a bullet for him. I’d rather it didn’t hurt, but if it does I’d still take a bullet, because he’s a first-class person. What he’s doing is something that he believed was the right thing he was doing for Russia.
“Unfortunately, he’s like a lot of business people, certainly like me, we make mistakes from time to time. When you’ve made the mistake, you have to do the best you can to get out of it.”