2023-09-11 14:48:00
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George Bush (l.) at a dinner with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg in 2006. © imago stock&people/Imago/Montage: IPPEN.MEDIA
Former US President Bush also claims to have once seen Putin’s “soul” – but the Kremlin boss has changed during his long term in office.
Kiev – George W. Bush has now told of an encounter with Yevgeny Prigozhin. The head of the Wagner Group only came into international focus as a result of the war in Ukraine. Previously, there was little talk in the media regarding “Putin’s Chef” – Prigozhin’s nickname because the Kremlin boss liked to use the services of his catering company, even at state banquets.
Prigozhin served Bush food at Putin meeting: “I survived”
Former US President Bush took part in the “Yalta European Strategy Conference” in Kiev via video link on Saturday (September 9th) and was asked regarding Prigozhin’s death – a few weeks following he orchestrated the mercenary uprising in Russia. When asked the question, Bush apparently first remembered that he had barely noticed Prigozhin at their first meeting. That’s what she reports Kyiv Post.
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“What shocked me was that I recently saw a picture from a G8 summit in St. Petersburg where Prigozhin was the guy who served me food,” Bush said, according to the Kyiv Post. “He was the cook. All I know is that I survived.” Bush was referring to pictures from several meetings in 2006 in which Prigozhin can be seen in the background. They’ve been circulating online for a while:
Former President Bush on first meeting with Putin: “I saw his soul”
But why shouldn’t Bush actually have survived Prigozhin serving him food? In 2006, relations between the USA and Russia were still different. Prigozhin’s significant role in the war in Ukraine was still a long way off. The ex-US President did not explain this, but also described impressions from his first meeting with Vladimir Putin.
That was in Slovenia at the beginning of 2001, Bush said, according to the Kyiv Post. Putin wanted to talk to him regarding the debts of the Soviet era. He asked the Russian president at the time: “Is it true that your mother gave you your cross and you were blessed in Jerusalem?” He got the information from the CIA – and Putin’s face changed when he asked the question. “He went from tense to relaxed and started talking regarding his mother and the cross and what it meant to him that he had been saved.”
According to the report, Bush made further assessments of Putin’s character and development. Putin has changed significantly since then and is now “infected” with power and money. “I think he is more powerful today than when I was president. And he is a smart politician,” he said at the same time.
Bush said regarding the meeting in Slovenia: “I asked him regarding his daughters. He let me know that he had two daughters and he talked regarding their interests and I talked regarding my daughters. And we started a working relationship. I looked into his eyes and saw his soul.” (frs)
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