Putin accused of staging casual encounter in hotel

Russian leader wants to appear more accessible, say critics

- JAMES C. REYNOLDS

Vladimir Putin appeared to stage a friendly encounter with a member of the public in a bizarre video shared by the Kremlin on Monday.

The Russian president was filmed making friendly small talk with a man in a hotel lobby during a planned meeting with an old schoolteacher in Moscow.

Putin, 73, cut a casual figure as he paraded the city, dressed down and with a small security detail in an apparent rebuttal of claims that security around him has been tightened amid fears of an assassination attempt or coup.

The Russian leader, who has recently faced accusations of being increasingly out of touch, stopped to ask the man, who said he was from Sochi, how the weather was in the city, where Putin has his own fortified complex.

“It was cold when we left and it was cold when we arrived here too,” the man joked. They spoke briefly about the man’s thoughts on the capital as onlookers filmed, before Putin headed back to his car with his teacher.