Support The Moscow Times!

New Archival Footage Shows Putin Dancing With George W. Bush

The Kremlin has released archival videos and photos of the president to mark President Vladimir Putin's 20 years in power as both president and prime minister of Russia.

In this published video from 2008, Putin can be seen dancing to a folk song with then-U.S. President George W. Bush.

Bush was visiting Putin in Sochi after the U.S. president had pushed for Georgia and Ukraine to join NATO at the Western military bloc’s 2008 summit.

When the leaders met for the first time in 2001, Bush said that he was able to “get a sense of [Putin’s] soul.”

Putin would later visit Bush at his ranch in Texas and at the Bush family compound in Maine.

Sochi was the last time the two leaders met as presidents, as Putin stepped down and became prime minister a month later.