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Johnson and G7 leaders joke about Putin during official meeting

Boris Johnson asked fellow leaders whether they should take their jackets off at the G7 summit, suggesting they were ‘tougher than Putin’.

David Hughes
Sunday 26 June 2022 10:02 EDT
Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the G7 summit in Schloss Elmau, in the Bavarian Alps, Germany (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the G7 summit in Schloss Elmau, in the Bavarian Alps, Germany (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

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Boris Johnson joked about Vladimir Putin with fellow world leaders as they met at the G7 summit in Germany.

The Prime Minister and Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau discussed the Russian leader and his history of being photographed without a shirt.

As the sun shone at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps, where the G7 leaders were meeting, Mr Johnson questioned whether they should keep their suit jackets on.

Warming to his theme, he then added “shall we take our clothes off?”, suggesting “we all have to show that we’re tougher than Putin”.

Mr Trudeau joined in, referring to a “bare-chested horseback ride” – Mr Putin was pictured shirtless riding a horse in 2009.

Mr Johnson then said: “We’ve got to show our pecs.”

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