Vladimir Putin appeared to make his thoughts on Western leaders clear in a rare off-script moment for the Russian leader, following threats of new sanctions over the ongoing war in Ukraine.
When he's not launching so-called 'special military operations' into neighbouring nations or offering Kremlin-approved journalists drinks of kefir in apartment, it seems the 72-year-old is busy lambasting the world's superpowers over their decision to impose sanctions on Russia
Earlier this week, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Friedrich Merz and Poland's Donald Tusk in Kyiv to call for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine in order to allow peace talks to take place.
The group also warned of further sanctions if ceasefire terms were not met.
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Considering the struggles Russia's economy is currently facing, you'd imagine Putin would want to avoid causing further misery for his people.
But apparently not, as the leader decided to mockingly refer to Western leaders as 'morons' while in a videoconference with members of the Business Russia organisation, Metro reports.
Addressing the threats of increased sanctions, Putin appeared to go surprisingly off-script in a rare moment of emotion.
"You'd think they wouldn't do this or that, since it clearly hurts them - but nope, they still do it," he said. "Morons."
The off the cusp remark was met with chuckles from attendees on the call, before the president remembered that he was discussing economic matters which impact Russia's 146 million citizens and not amongst friends.
Quickly returning to his more formal manner, Putin added: "Oh, I am sorry. But, look, it's like this - the world's top economies are tipping into recession just to spite us."
Despite the laughs from his Business Russia attendees, it might not be such a good idea to refer to your international counterparts as morons just days before ceasefire talks are scheduled to take place.
In a surprising move, Putin offered to engage in direct peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has since confirmed he would be heading to Turkey and 'waiting for Putin... personally'.
However, it is currently unclear whether or not Putin will take up the offer on direct face-to-face talks with Zelenskyy, with the Kremlin declining to comment on who would be flying out to Turkey for Thursday's (15 May) talks, per The Guardian.
As things stand, it's looking unlikely that Putin will be in Turkey tomorrow. But if he were to show up, it would be a pretty interesting meeting, especially as US leader Donald Trump has publicly floated the idea of flying in himself.
Topics: Russia, Vladimir Putin, Politics, World News
Brenna Cooper