Castle Elmau, Germany:
World leaders mocked the tough image of Russian President Vladimir Putin at a G7 luncheon in Germany on Sunday, joking about whether to strip down to or even less.
‘Jackets on? Jackets off? Do we take off our coats?’ asked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he sat down at the table at Bavaria’s picturesque Elmau Castle, where Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosted the summit of seven powerful democracies.
The leader from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the European Union pondered the dilemma.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested we wait for the official photo before undressing, but then Boris Johnson joked, “We have to show we are stronger than Putin” and the joke just kept rolling.
“We’re going bare-chested,” Trudeau said, referring to Putin’s infamous 2009 photo shoot of him riding a shirtless horse.
“Horse riding is the best,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, without apparently addressing the clothing issue itself.
Boris Johnson intervened: “We have to show them our pecs.”
The leaders posed — coats on — for photos before the reporters were pushed out of the room, leaving the sartorial debate behind closed doors.
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