The President of Turkmenistan was excited

Putin received it

Gurbankuly Berdymukhammedov will probably remember his first visit to Moscow as President of Turkmenistan for a long time. His Boeing was still in the air yesterday on its approach to Vnukovo when it became known about the death of Boris Yeltsin. Strange coincidences accompany Berdymukhammedov on his presidential path. He gained power on Stalin's birthday, December 21, 2006, when Turkmenbashi died suddenly . And on the day of his visit to Moscow, Yeltsin died suddenly.

From the airport, the Turkmen guest, as expected, immediately went to Novo-Ogarevo, where Vladimir Putin was waiting for him for an informal meeting. Journalists were waiting for both of them in the hall of the first floor of his country residence. On a large flat television screen, they watched various stories about the first president of Russia on different channels. When the press was called to the second floor, a small lectern with one microphone had already been installed there. They explained: this was not for a joint press conference, but for Putin’s speech. The Russian president was preparing to make a statement regarding the death of Boris Yeltsin.

But first there was a meeting with the President of Turkmenistan. Vladimir Putin's assistant Sergei Prikhodko and Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov were preparing to take part in it. Surprisingly, the meeting started almost on time, at half past seven in the evening. Another thing seemed strange. The protocol beginning of the conversation, intended for the press, did not include words of condolences from the guest on the occasion of the sad news for the hosts. It seems that the Russian side also noticed the awkwardness created. When journalists were asked to leave the presidents and their advisers alone, members of the Kremlin press service rushed to tell them what they could no longer hear.

“You know what a misfortune happened to us today,” Putin said, addressing the guest and either informing him or asking him.

“Yes, of course,” replied the Turkmen president, “I offer my sincere condolences...

Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov entered Putin’s office smiling and noticeably glancing towards the press, as if trying to spot acquaintances there. Of course, they were there - the journalists who came with him from Ashgabat. There were noticeably more of them than the late Turkmenbashi usually took with him to Moscow.

Appearing to the guest in a black suit, Putin looked gloomy and tired, but his routine smile was quite successful. He congratulated Berdymukhammedov on his victory in the presidential election, recalling the “impressive numbers” that “expressed the trust the Turkmen people placed in their leader.” “This is the key to the success of all your plans that you have set for the development of Turkmenistan,” the owner assured the guest. Putin must have been confident that Berdymukhammedov would be pleased to remember that he won with a remarkable result of close to 90% of the vote. Even Putin in Russia can only dream of such figures. However, judging by the fact that he is not running for a third presidential term, he now has no need for it.

Then, in the presence of the press, the Russian president reminded his Turkmen counterpart that “at your request, we have recently relaunched another branch of the gas pipeline system along the Caspian Sea and today we are pumping more than 5 million cubic meters of gas through it.” Putin added meaningfully: “There are opportunities to expand activities in this direction.” After all, Ashgabat must understand that there is no point in spending huge amounts of money to please the European Union and America, which are so persistently lobbying for the construction of a trans-Caspian gas pipeline bypassing Russia. Like, if there is a need for new pipes for Turkmenistan, which is increasing gas production, then tell us, and we will solve everything.

Mr. Berdymukhammedov was extremely laconic in response - “thank you for the invitation, we respect you...”. He told Putin about the “historical roots of Russian-Turkmen relations, which have been intertwined for centuries.” And then he said a phrase that seemed a little strange. The Turkmen president agreed with Putin, who allegedly said that “our relations in previous years developed in the best possible way.” I did not hear such assessments from the Russian president yesterday. Apparently the guest thought it was out of excitement...

Arkady DUBNOV