A body language expert has said the extra cordial reception for the US President’s representatives suggests the Russian and American sides are well aligned over their Ukraine goals
Donald Trump has made his bed with Vladimir Putin over the issue of the Ukraine war, an expert has said, following a cordial reception for his representatives in Moscow.
Steve Witkoff and the US President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for crunch talks with Russian delegates about new official proposals to end the country’s now three-year-long invasion of its neighbour. The pair have received with red carpet treatment since arriving in the capital, being treated to lunch at an upscale restaurant in the city as they were made to wait for several hours before meeting with Putin.
But despite the wait, the two were treated so well that experts are convinced the US and Russian delegations have landed on the same page after Putin dispensed with a “core power play technique”.
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Speaking to the Mirror, body language expert Judi James noticed that Putin had decided not to use his comically large table while negotiating with the two. She said: “There is one core power play technique that Putin is not using here, which is the use of his ridiculously large board table to keep Witkoff and co at a distance where they would almost need megaphones to talk and negotiate and therefore be put at a huge psychological disadvantage in terms of power and strength.
“Putin has used this trick many times to diminish his opponents but this set-up appears to be relatively intimate and cordial.” Ms James added that seating arrangements suggested Putin did not appear to be “trying to power broke” as he might with other leaders.
She continued: “The Russian leader does sit directly across the table from Witkoff which implies confrontation but both are seated in the middle of the table, not at either end, which again suggests Putin is not trying to power-broke here.”
The expert added that body language signals suggested “geniality” between the two, and that Putin even seemed to be enjoying the meeting. She said: “The two men’s body language suggests geniality. Witkoff’s features are wreathed with crinkling that creates friendly-looking smiles.
“Putin appears to be suggesting he is also in a mellow and amiable mood here. He has one hand on the table and the other on his hip and his cheeks are rounded in a gesture of pleasure and his eyes are also crinkled in a good-humored eye-smile.”
However, Ms James added a caveat, saying former KGB foreign intelligence officer is known to be “misleading” with his body language. She added that, while the pair’s infamous in-person meeting in Alaska was similarly friendly, it ultimately “had little bearing on the outcome” of the summit.
She said: “To read anything into Putin’s body language state here though would be a mistake. His signals tend to be misleading, sometimes deliberately so.
“His big meeting with Trump in Alaska involved intense friendship rituals that had little bearing on the outcome of the leadership summit.” Peace negotiations between the Trump team and Putin went on for hours, and didn’t conclude until after midnight local time.
But despite the convivial atmosphere, officials were cagey about the meeting’s content, with Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s foreign policy advisor who was in the room, saying talks were “productive”.