Vladimir Putin celebrated his 74th birthday in a narrow circle, after devoting most of the day to work commitments. This was announced by Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
„Very few people, absolutely. I want to remind you that on his birthday Putin held almost ten international phone calls. Only in the evening did his relatives, friends and friends manage to congratulate him on his birthday“, said Peskov, quoted by RBC.
Almost ten international calls
Putin spoke with foreign leaders who congratulated him on his birthday. Some of the phone calls also touched on issues beyond protocol, Peskov previously said.
Among the interlocutors were the presidents of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Iran Masoud Pezeshkian, Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Kazakhstan Kassam-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, as well as the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.
Schröder was among the guests
Among the few guests at the evening celebration was former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The Kremlin published photos of the two men, with a Russian stove and a samovar in the background.
According to Peskov, Putin learned about Schröder's presence in Moscow after seeing him on television news. The president invited him to his residence, where the two celebrated his birthday.
Schroeder arrived in Moscow on a business trip. He met with employees of the Globus hypermarket, and in early October he was appointed a member of the supervisory board of the Russian company Hyperglobus, which develops the chain's business in Russia.