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Putin speaks English at Alaska summit: surprising words
Putin's final words at the Alaska summit were uttered in surprising English. A look at his language skills and the dynamic with Donald Trump. Find out more about the surprising moment.
Putin speaks English at Alaska summit: surprising words
Russian President Vladimir Putin's last words at the summit in Alaska were spoken in unusually cheerful English. "And next time in Moscow," Putin said in response to US President Donald Trump's suggestion that they would meet again very soon. This informal remark requires no translation.
Putin's language skills
Putin is known for occasionally making friendly remarks in foreign languages. So he thanked him at the end of his Summit with Trump in English with “Thank you so much”. This meeting ended without an agreement to end the war in Ukraine. Typically, the Russian president, a former KGB intelligence officer, uses translators to avoid speaking in English.
Fluent German and English
Putin speaks German fluently. During his time as KGB officer in the GDR he was stationed in Dresden. It is known that he spoke German during his talks with former Chancellor Angela Merkel. According to the Kremlin, he also speaks English well. In a telephone conversation in May, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin was able to understand Trump's words before the translation came.
Putin's use of translators
According to Peskov, Putin understands English "almost completely" and even corrects his interpreters, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported. "When he is on the move, he most often speaks English. But during negotiations and official meetings, he communicates through interpreters," Peskov added. This also gives the leaders freedom to conduct their conversations.
Examples of Putin's language skills
Putin has also shown his linguistic talent outside of the negotiating room. In 2008, in an exclusive interview with CNN about the conflict in Georgia, he provided information partly in English. In 2013, he announced Russia's bid to host the 2020 World Expo in Yekaterinburg in a lengthy English statement, saying: "It will be a national priority project." In a particularly notable performance, he sang "Blueberry Hill" in St. Petersburg in 2010, despite some difficulty with the words. Celebrities like Kevin Costner and Goldie Hawn were in the audience and witnessed this extraordinary performance.
During a video conference earlier this year, Putin responded in German to a German seeking Russian citizenship and chatted briefly about his time in the former East Germany. This made the other participants smile.
Trump responds to Putin's invitation
On Friday, Trump immediately responded to Putin's invitation for further talks in Moscow, saying: "Oh, that's interesting. I don't know, I'm getting a little pushback on that, but I could possibly imagine it. Thank you very much, Vladimir."