Vladimir Putin was left waiting by a foreign president as part of a summit in which the embattled Russian president is attempting to forge more allies.
A video shared online shows Putin awkwardly standing around for over 20 seconds as he waits to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during the second annual Russia-Africa summit. In the clip, Putin strolls around the room in silence with his hands behind his back and idly straightens items on a table before continuing to pace.
The Russia-Africa summit, which is taking place in St. Petersburg on Thursday and Friday, aims to result in numerous agreements between the host nation and others, in the areas of trade, economics, investment, science and technology. It also includes bilateral conversations regarding the war in Ukraine and ways forward through the African Peace Initiative, which launched in June in St. Petersburg.
The presence of El-Sisi and other African leaders is part of a leveling of relations between Russia and the West, according to Mirette Mabrouk, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and founding director of its Egypt Studies program.
She told Newsweek via phone that national leaders are "walking a tightrope...so that they don't cut themselves off at the knees." Last year, Egyptian exports to Russia were up more than 20 percent from the year before. Russian imports increased to just over 4 billion, though a lot of that is grain.
The summit is viewed by some as a political reset of sorts for Putin and Russia as global allies continue to run thin as the war wages on in Ukraine.
"Putin had to wait for quite some time for the president of Egypt," tweeted Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs. "This is not the first time that foreign leaders have made Putin wait for their meetings."
In July 2022, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan left Putin awkwardly waiting for some 50 seconds in Tehran, Iran, as cameras recorded him fidgeting.
Putin had to wait for quite some time for the president of Egypt.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 27, 2023
This is not the first time that foreign leaders have made Putin wait for their meetings. pic.twitter.com/WSaO1UWayN
Putin was stuck waiting again that September when Erdogan and leaders of Azerbaijan, India and Kyrgyzstan stalled to meet with the Russian president at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Putin's relationship with Erdogan, once viewed as one of his close allies, has been threatened in recent weeks. The Turkish leader who once vilified the West and NATO ceded to them when he gave the go-ahead for Sweden's accession into the bloc.
Erdogan has also been courted by Putin's adversary, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has encouraged Turkey and the United Nations to move ahead with the Black Sea Grain Initiative without Russia—which paused its role in the export deal.
Russian officials said Tuesday that 49 of 54 African countries, including Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Egypt, Libya, South Africa and others, were confirmed to be represented at the summit, according to Turkish state-run media outlet Anadolu Agency.
Putin said Thursday during the summit that Russia in the coming months will send 25,000-50,000 free tons of grain to six African nations: Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea. The grain deal Russia has temporarily vacated allowed approximately 33 million tons of grain to leave Ukrainian ports, The Moscow Times reported.
Egypt is the world's largest grain importer, Mabrouk noted, saying that about 80 percent of imported grain traditionally comes from Russia (50 percent) and Ukraine (30 percent).
"That grain is essential for Egypt, it is not about to do anything that is going to endanger that," she said. "They are going to try and maintain those relationships....They are not going to cut off relations because somebody has to feed your people and your responsibilities for you to feed your people. And that's for Egypt and just about every other country dealing with with Russia—whether it's African nations, whether it's India, whether it's China."
Putin and El-Sisi reportedly discussed the nations' 80-year history of diplomacy and a reported 29 percent uptick in trade last year, according to a Kremlin readout. Putin also mentioned energy deals, notably the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant.
"The El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant is a project that is fundamental to our cooperation, and we will carry it through," El-Sisi said. "Another element is the establishment of the Russian Industrial Zone."
It is a $30 billion project is being financed largely through a $25 billion Russian loan.
The pair also discussed the situation in Ukraine, according to an Egyptian spokesperson. El-Sisi reportedly pushed for a solution "that would quickly settle the crisis politically in a peaceful manner in order to reduce the existing human suffering," as well as limit already negative economic repercussions experienced by developing and African countries.
Update 7/27/23, 1:04 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Mirette Mabrouk.
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Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
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