In Russia, where I am from, it’s next to impossible to come across a national leader in a shopping centre like it happens sometimes in Australia, Germany and other western countries.
When I was approved to go to the press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin following the G20 in Brisbane, I felt it was quite a special event in my life.
The Australian media were denied access to this event after continually hammering Putin on the front pages of their newspaper for several weeks before the G20 and creating a lot of noise about him and Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who had vowed to “shirtfront” Putin over the MH17 disaster.
So when the Russian leader finally arrived in Australia and the local media lined up for an interview, they were left with a definite “net/no”.
Was it a trick or a strategy against Australian media that Putin gave not a single comment to them?
This is hard to say although he was not the only G20 leader who avoided Aussie media – India’s Narenda Modi declined any press-conferences or interviews.
It’s questionable if Australian media should take Putin’s snub personally.
During the welcoming handshakes at G20, my Australian colleagues anticipating the Putin-Abbott showdown burst out laughing on the awkward, finger pointing gesture between them when they met in Brisbane.
At the same time my Russian colleagues looked puzzled as they didn’t find anything that was so hilarious.
Russians are too serious, that’s why “shirtfronting” has never been a joke for them but merely political nonsense.
A political ban or not, the only Putin press conference in Australia was meant just for Russian media, who were allowed to ask anything they wanted.
Following checks by Putin’s special security service, the journalists who met Putin found him in a cheerful mood.
To my disappointment, I haven’t received a KGB-scanning-your-guts look, instead it was, as it seemed, an open conversation and, as we found out later, a farewell to Brisbane’s G20.
The issue that was one of the major concerns and created expected tension during the summit, the crisis in Ukraine, was raised by a reporter from one of the most popular Russian newspapers – MK.
Despite western leaders demonstrating their ability to isolate Putin over the conflict, he explained it as just a normal difference in points of view.
I asked the final question about Putin’s impressions of Tony Abbott. I was hoping to see the emotions and hear the jokes, since we knew Abbott didn’t even try to shirtfront Putin at the APEC summit in Beijing just before G20.
Putin was typically Russian answering with all the seriousness. I found out it was a convenient question as he slipped in an explanation for his early departure from Brisbane. The President’s plane had all the bedding facilities and he could have a decent rest on his way back work in Moscow.
One way or another it wasn’t more than 40 minutes after Putin stepped out of the doors of the Brisbane Hilton Hotel that his plane took off in the direction of Eastern Russia, perhaps never to return.
Olga Klepova of SBS Radio was the only Australian-based journalist to attend Russian President Vladimir Putin’s G20 media conference in Brisbane.
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