Boycott? Rio’s having a spot of tea with Putin!
DESPITE a boycott by politicians and members of the Royal Family, it would appear Britain has still been represented on the diplomatic stage.
In Moscow, former England captain Rio Ferdinand was pictured enjoying tea and cake with Vladimir Putin.
The BBC football pundit, 39, was seen posing with the Russian President, who was presented with a blue number 11 football shirt with ‘Putin’ on the back.
And Ferdinand was sitting just two spaces away from Putin as they chatted around a grand, white table. He and other ‘world football legends’ – including Peter Schmeichel and Lothar Matthaus, attended the Kremlin yesterday.
Marco van Basten, Diego Forlan, Jorge Campos, Zvonimir Boban and FIFA president Gianni Infantino were also welcomed by the President.
In the meeting, Putin spoke about the atmosphere in Russia during the World Cup and claimed many stereotypes about the country had been dispelled.
He said: ‘I am sure that the overwhelming majority of those who came to us will take away the most kind feelings and memories of our country and will return here again and again.’
The cuddly encounter comes just days after Dawn Sturgess, 44, and Charles Rowley, 45, were admitted to hospital after being exposed to remnants of a Novichok nerve agent.
The couple fell ill within hours of visiting Salisbury – the site of the attempted assassination of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. They had visited a park near where the Skripals were found collapsed in March.
Both victims had collapsed, hallucinating and foaming at the mouth, on Saturday. Police confirmed they had been exposed to Novichok, which is one of the most toxic substances known to man.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid blamed the Kremlin for the trail of devastation and said it had been treating Britain as ‘dumping grounds for poison’.
Russia accused the UK of staging the crisis to ruin the World Cup and stoke ‘anti-Russia hysteria’.
Police are continuing to search for the item contaminated with the nerve agent, which the couple are believed to have handled. Police initially thought the couple had taken a contaminated batch of drugs. But Wiltshire Police then launched a major investigation after experts warned they were suffering the symptoms of nerve agent poisoning.