Putin apologizes to Vučić for Russian diplomat’s joke that the Serbian president should have seduced Trump with his loins

Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have each apologized to Aleksandar Vučić for a Facebook post by the colorfully outspoken Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, who compared the Serbian president’s recent meeting with Donald Trump at the White House to Sharon Stone’s infamous “leg cross” scene in the 1992 film “Basic Instinct.”

Wait, Zakharova did what?

During President Vučić’s recent visit to the Oval Office, he was seated before Trump’s imposing desk in a noticeably less impressive chair. Zakharova joked that Vučić seemed to be positioned for a kind of interrogation and advised anyone in such a situation to mimic Sharon Stone’s seductive technique in “Basic Instinct,” when her character in the movie infamously shifted her crossed legs to flash her questioners a view of her exposed nethers. “Follow her lead, whoever you are. Just trust me,” Zakharova wrote on Facebook, attaching a close-up shot of Stone’s legs in motion.

“President Putin had never apologized to me for anything. The same goes for Sergey Lavrov. But they both did now because of [Zakharov’s post]. Though I didn’t even bring it up and, as a well-mannered person, I would never have mentioned it. I believe we have a good relationship and this is merely a passing, insignificant incident for me,” Vučić said of the apology, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

The Kremlin’s press secretary later confirmed that Putin formally apologized to the Serbian leader.

• Vučić was in the United States for negotiations with Kosovar Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, resulting in a new economic pact. Serbian officials nevertheless say they have no plans to recognize the region’s independence.