Best buds
World leaders are assembling in Argentina for a G20 summit – a meeting of the planet’s 20 leading economies.
Both Russian president Vladimir Putin and crown prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman are in Buenos Aires this weekend.
When the pair met each other, they exchanged warm smiles and a solid high five, which bin Salman followed up with several hearty slaps.
https://twitter.com/esaagar/status/1068526796788817922
World leaders have been virtually unanimous in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia for its role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at its consulate in Istanbul. Notable exceptions include Donald Trump and Putin.
Trump said: “We do not know what happened in reality. So why should we undertake any steps to deteriorate our relations with Saudi Arabia?”
Putin said: “As far as I know the journalist who went missing used to live in the USA … In this regard the US has a certain responsibility.”
A growing weight of evidence shows that the Saudi crown prince may have directly ordered the murder, although much of it comes from Turkish media or anonymous officials. Given Turkish president Recep Erdogan’s purge of public institutions of detractors and critiques since 2016, news from the country is published with the government’s consent.
Erdogan’s government has an interest in splitting the USA from Saudi Arabia, and steadily releasing this information serves that purpose.
But why let all that get in the way of a couple of bros greeting each other?
