Vladimir Putin’s body language suggested suppressed agitation or anger when he was challenged to defend his 25-year rule, struggling Russian economy and ongoing invasion of Ukraine, an expert claims.
The Russian President hosted his yearly phone-in on Thursday, a choreographed event which went on for over four hours and saw him boasting about how the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine had strengthened Moscow’s military and economic power.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, body language guru Judi James said: “Much of Putin’s over four-hour epic involves a body language air of what can only (and not scientifically) be described as ‘cockiness’.
“He is playful at times, placing his hands on the desk, his right eyebrow leaping and wriggling in a gesture of amusement and with a part smile that includes the tip of his tongue protruding slightly between the front of his lips, especially when he seems to offer some kind of a high-tech duel or dare.
“When he tells his audience ‘We are no longer dependent on anyone’ he lowers his chin and his cheeks round and his lips purse in a wily smile,” she continued.
“He uses his pen to write in the air to emphasise his thoughts and when he gets to a point where he references Boris Johnson his comment about ‘A man with nice hair’ that he mimes with his hands suggests jovial mocking.”
But James noted that Putin’s body language mood changed when he was offered a rare tough question, from the BBC News’ long-time Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg.
Rosenberg referred to Putin’s political mentor and champion Boris Yeltsin – the former president from 1991 to 1999 – who, the journalist told the Russian leader, “handed you power and told you to take care of Russia”.
Rosenberg proceeded to ask the former KGB officer whether he believed he had taken care of Russia, “Because looking in, what do we see? We see substantial losses in the so-called ‘special military operation’ that you declared”.
“We see Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region. You criticise NATO expansion but there is now more NATO on Russia’s borders: Sweden and Finland”, he continued. “Sanctions, high inflation, demographic problems. Do you think you’ve taken care of your country?”
Putin responded: “Yes, and I think I haven’t just taken care of it, I think we’ve pulled back from the edge of the abyss because with everything that was happening to Russia before that we were heading towards a complete, total loss of our sovereignty.
“Without sovereignty, Russia cannot exist as an independent state.”
Putin suggested Yeltsin had been dismissed by Western leaders when he criticised NATO attacks against Yugoslavia in the 1990s during the Kosovo conflict, and in his own administation has done “everything so that Russia can be an independent sovereign state that is capable of taking decisions on its own interests, not in the interests of countries that were dragging it towards them”.
The 72-year-old also admitted that while there is inflation, he was going to fight it, saying: “But we have economic growth. We are ranked fourth in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP)”.
“Please tell your readers that. First place in Europe, way ahead of Great Britain. I don’t think Great Britain is even in the top five.” He added: “We are prepared to work with Great Britain, if Great Britain wants to work with us.”
According to the International Monetary Fund, Russia’s gross PPP does make it the fourth largest in the world, with Britain ranked 10th. But when sorted per capita, Britain has the 28th largest economy in the world, while Russia lags far behind in 43rd, according to IMF and World Bank estimates.
James said during his pugnacious response, Putin “leans onto one elbow with a clamped mouth and his eyes lift to his right to suggest reflective thought”.
“He picks up the pace verbally with his answer and there is an angry-looking nose sneer and a head baton that becomes a subtle body baton to suggest firmness,” she continued.
“But it is here that he begins, uncharacteristically, to fiddle constantly with what looks like a wire from a microphone. The gesture suggests agitation, irritation or suppressed anger.
“His ‘I have done everything’ comes with a raised finger signalling re-booted authority and his brows raise in empathy.
During his broadside at Great Britain, Putin “raises his index finger upward in another gesture of authority and then swipes the hand sideways as though swiping something away”, James continued.
“When he talks about GB ‘wants to work with us?’ he self points to suggest himself and his thumb is cocked, suggesting confidence.”
At the end of the conference, Rosenberg asked another question, referring to MI5’s claims that Russian agents were “creating chaos” on the streets of Britain.
Putin audibly laughed and thanked Rosenberg for the question, immediately dismissing the allegations as “utter rubbish”.
