THIS was the frosty moment Vladimir Putin came face to face with a former ally – in a strained handshake that could point to the Kremlin’s next conflict.
Footage from Beijing shows the 72-year-old Russian tyrant, boosted by his trademark platform shoes, awkwardly trying to edge past Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev before China’s huge military parade.
Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev shake hands in Beijing
The Russian tyrant, spotted wearing platform heels, quickly turned to shake hands with Aliyev’s wife
Azerbaijan’s First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, second from the right, was filmed with a stony expression after shaking hands with Putin
Putin holding a press conference, at the end of his visit to China for the Tianjin SCO Summit and the military parade
The pair exchanged a brief, tight-lipped greeting before Vlad turned to shake hands with Aliyev’s wife, Mehriban, Azerbaijan’s First Lady and vice-president.
That encounter too looked stiff, as Putin forced his way forward through the crowd of world leaders.
Just moments earlier, Aliyev had warmly embraced leaders from Uzbekistan and Serbia.
With Putin, the atmosphere was markedly different.
Relations between Moscow and Baku have soured since a Russian air defence unit fired on an Azerbaijan Airlines jet over Chechnya last Christmas.
The crash in Kazakhstan killed 38 of 67 on board.
Putin issued an apology – but stopped short of taking responsibility.
Outraged Aliyev responded: “We know exactly what happened — and we can prove it.”
The 63-year-old has since warned Moscow not to underestimate his country, vowing: “We do not want war… [but] we must be ready for war at any moment… if someone’s sick mind decides to commit a provocation against Azerbaijan, they will regret it.”
The clash has sparked a tit-for-tat spiral.
Russian security services have arrested ethnic Azerbaijanis at home, while Baku has detained Russian nationals working in Azerbaijan.
Putin’s military cheerleaders are already talking up conflict.
One pro-Kremlin channel declared: “A conflict with Baku… is inevitable… and the sooner we start preparing for this conflict, the better.”
Others eye Azerbaijan’s oil and gas wealth, warning that the Caspian region could become a new battleground if Moscow needs another war once Ukraine reaches a stalemate.
The Beijing event also offered an unusual glimpse of Putin away from the script.
In a hot mic moment, he was overheard walking with Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un discussing
Xi said: “Earlier, people rarely lived to 70, but these days at 70 years you are still a child.”
Putin added: “With the development of biotechnology, human organs can be continuously transplanted, and you people can live younger and younger, and even achieve immortality.”
The parade itself was a display of raw military power.
An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer E190AR crashed during an emergency landing in Aktau, Kazakhstan on 25 December 2024
An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer E190AR crashed during an emergency landing in Aktau, Kazakhstan on 25 December 2024
Hypersonic nuclear missiles, laser weapons, robot dogs and swarms of drones were unveiled to the sound of marching troops chanting to Xi: “We serve the people.”
Xi framed the spectacle as a crossroads moment: “Today, mankind is faced with the choice of peace or war.”
Watching from the US, Donald Trump blasted the first meeting of Xi, Putin and Kim as a conspiracy against America.
Meanwhile, back in Moscow, Putin’s own generals may have let slip his real ambitions.
A shows Russia claiming not just the four regions seized in 2022, but also Ukraine’s Mykolaiv and Odesa.
Neither is under Russian control – but Odesa has long been described by Putin as a “Russian city”.
If captured, it would cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea entirely.
The map suggests his appetite goes far beyond the Donbas – despite talk of freezing the frontline in peace negotiations.
The hot mic moment revealed the strange talks between Kim, Putin and Xi
