Ukrainians mocked Vladimir Putin’s strange “shaking” legs as he bade farewell to Donald Trump early at the Alaska summit after lunch was cancelled. They even claimed he wore a “light exoskeleton” as well as thick-platform shoes to overcome his ‘Napoleon complex’ and minimise his height difference with the US president.
Footage showed Putin repeatedly bending his knee as he stood speaking to Trump before leaving Elmendorf-Richardson airbase in Anchorage after refusing to call a ceasefire in the war.
His thick-soled shoes were clearly visible to compensate for the 8-inch difference in height between 6ft 3 inch Trump and 5ft 7 inch Putin.
“Attention — Putin’s legs. What is wrong with them?” asked the Times of Ukraine channel.
“Putin seems to have achieved his goal, but he is twitching suspiciously. His legs are ‘shaking.’ Maybe his shoes are tight,” said Nevzorov channel.
As well as pushing out his knees, Putin repeatedly raised his left toe and heel in turn.
Another Ukrainian outlet commented on how Putin “suddenly ‘grew’ for the meeting with Trump”.
“A strange element resembling a light exoskeleton was noticed in the outfit of the Russian dictator,” claimed Crimean Wind.
The 20 centimetre – or eight inch – difference in the leaders’ heights was “not very noticeable on the video.
“However, something resembling a light exoskeleton under the [trousers] – at least from the knees down – is noticeable.
“Apparently, suffering from a Napoleon complex, Putin decided not to limit himself to traditional shoes with hidden platforms adding up to 12 cm [almost 5 inches] in height for the ‘meeting of the century’.”
Later, Putin was seen bending his knee to lay flowers at the graves of Soviet pilots and other military personnel at the Fort Richardson Memorial Cemetery.
During the Lend-Lease programme during the Second World War, Soviet pilots trained in Alaska and ferried U.S.-built aircraft across the Bering Strait.
Some died during training or flights.
After laying flowers, Putin returned to his ‘Flying Kremlin’ Il-96-300PU presidential plane, where he is known as “Passenger Number One”.
Footage from Putin’s plane showed he was given an F-35 Lightning II fighter escort from Anchorage to the American-Russian border.
Soon afterwards – after crossing the International Date Line – Putin landed in the far-flung Russian region Chukotka, where ex-Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was once the governor, for meetings with local officials.
