Having been 'guest-of-honor' at the APEC Summit the previous week [4], it appears Russian President Vladimir Putin is getting the 'Obama-at-APEC' treatment [4] at the G-20 meeting in Brisbane. Following his 'odd' shaped convoy of protection last week [5], The Independent reports [6] Putin chose a different type of entourage this week as he headed to meet the world's leaders. Putin has stationed four warships close to Australian waters as he arrived in Australia. Having drawn ridicule from no lesser wit than Britain's David Cameron who sarcastically bleeted, "I didn't feel it necessary to bring a warship myself to keep myself safe at this G20, and I’m sure that Putin won’t be in any danger," when it came time for the team photo, it was clear what 'message' was being sent...
Australia says it is monitoring four Russian naval vessels that are approaching its waters to the north of the country.
[8]
The Australian Defence Force said two frigates and a surveillance aircraft had been sent to track the warships.
[9]
In a statement, it said the Russian vessels were heading towards Australia but remained in international waters.
Analysts say it is a show of force by Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of the G20 summit in Brisbane.
"The movement of these vessels is entirely consistent with provisions under international law for military vessels to exercise freedom of navigation in international waters," the ADF statement read.
[10]
The ADF said Russian naval vessels have previously been deployed in conjunction with major international summits, including the Apec summit in Singapore in 2009.
"A warship from Russia's Pacific fleet also accompanied former Russian president Medvedev's visit to San Francisco in 2010," the statement added.
And then there's David Cameron's quip:
“I didn’t feel it necessary to bring a warship myself to keep myself safe at this G20, and I’m sure that Putin won’t be in any danger,” he said last night.
And a clear message sent via the team photo:
[11]
This week's G-20 Meeting... Obama front-and-center between China's Xi and Brazil's Rousseff, just in front of Britain's Cameron with Putin almost out of shot
[12]
Source: BusinessWeek [13]
Has the world's diplomatic stability really deteriorated to 8-year-old playground antics? (or has it in fact always been there) Stand next to me! No, stand next to me!
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And finally, there's this... Spot the difference
[14]
Is it us or does that Koala look like it's trying to get away?
