Dmitry Medvedev during TV interview, in the end of which he made few unexpected comments
On December 7th, the Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev gave a one-and-a-half hour long interview to 5 Russian TV stations, which was aired on the channel Russia Today.
Later the activist of opposition Georgiy Alburov leaked to internet the full version of this interview. It contained 5 minutes of footage in which Medvedev, unaware of the fact that cameras continued recording, made few “off-the-record” comments.
For example, when journalists thanked Medvedev for his punctuality, he criticized Vladimir Putin by saying that “someone must be very punctual, while someone else chooses 8 years of being late.“
Putin and His Constant Lateness
Taking in account that Putin is well-known for his habit to be late to various appointments and meetings, and the fact that 8 years is the period of Putin’s first two presidential terms, it’s not difficult to guess to whom Medvedev referred in his comment.
In the past the blogger A. Malgin had summarized some of the public events for which Vladimir Putin had been late.
Here is the partial list of people and time that they had to wait for the arrival of Vladimir Vladimirovich:
- the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel (40 minutes)
- the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko (more than 1 hour)
- the President of Finland Tarja Halonen (2 hours)
- the Queen of the UK Elizabeth II (12 minutes)
- the King of Spain Juan Carlos I (20 minutes)
- the King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf (30 minutes)
- the former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko (3 hours)
- Jesus Christ (10 minutes)
The latter “had to wait” for the beginning of the Easter procession in April 2001, which started after the scheduled time due to the late appearance of the Russian President.
One of the latest incidents happened when Putin arrived three hours late to the conference in Ukraine. Yet, in spite of being behind the schedule, he made a stop on his way to Yalta to meet the members of the biker club “Night Wolves” known for their loyalty to the authorities. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called it a “diplomatic slap in the face and plain rudeness”.
My name is Augis Barkov and I am glad to welcome you to RedHotRussia - the site in which you can find the most popular stories, pictures and videos from Russian internet translated to English.
Read more
UPDATE:
During 5 minutes of the additional footage there was another phrase said by Medvedev, which caused an even bigger controversy.
Namely, Medvedev called the detectives of the Investigative Committee “jerks” for doing searches in the houses of witnesses in the very early morning.
Investigative Committee made the statement in which they expressed “surprise” with Medvedev’s words.
Maybe Putin is simply indifferent to the effects of making others wait for him, a symptom of a more general egocentricity. He is caught up in his own needs, arrogance and preferences and fails to take the perspective of others.
Probably he doesn’t understand that being late is a way of manipulating and controlling a situation at the expense of others. Or perhaps, he does and that’s why he makes use of it.
Indeed, it’s his long-standing habit.
Even his wife – Ludmila Putina – had complained in one interview, that while she was never late for a date/meeting with her husband, he sometimes might come one-and-a-half hour late.
It’s strange that someone who is habitually late managed to rise so high in the ranks. Did this habit of Putin’s start after his rise to power? That seems more likely, but then smells of an inflated ego.
Regardless who you are or what your responsibilities, you can always manage your time in a way that wouldn’t inconvenience others on a regular basis.
I figure its just Putin showing his ‘power.’ You have to admit he thinks he’s the supreme being in Russia. I akin it to what Gandolf said in Lord of the Rings about wizards being late. “A Wizard is never late, he arrive precisely when he’s supposed to.”