Boris Johnson joked about Vladimir Putin with fellow world leaders as they met at the G7 summit in Germany.
The Prime Minister and Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau discussed the Russian leader and his history of being photographed without a shirt.
As the sun shone at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps, where the G7 leaders were meeting, Mr Johnson questioned whether they should keep their suit jackets on.
Justin Trudeau and Boris Johnson
Stefan Rousseau
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Reuters
Warming to his theme, he then added “shall we take our clothes off?”, suggesting “we all have to show that we’re tougher than Putin”.
Mr Trudeau joined in, referring to a “bare-chested horseback ride” – Mr Putin was pictured shirtless riding a horse in 2009.
Mr Johnson then said: “We’ve got to show our pecs.”
During the same summit, the PM urged G7 allies to stand firm in support of Ukraine, while giving specific praise to Germany.
“Just look at what the Germans alone have done,” he said.
“I never believed in my lifetime that I would see a German chancellor stepping up in the way that Olaf Scholz has and sending weaponry to help the Ukrainians to protect themselves.
“He’s made huge, huge strides. We have 4 percent of our gas from Russia, in Germany it’s 40 percent.
“They’re facing real, real pressures, they’re having to source energy from elsewhere. But they’re doing it. They’re making the effort. They’re making the sacrifice.”
He said the Germans realise “the price of freedom is worth paying”, despite the domestic consequences.
Mr Johnson added: “The consequences of what’s happening for the world are tough, but the price of backing down, the price of allowing Putin to succeed, to hack off huge parts of Ukraine, to continue with his programme of conquest, that price will be far, far higher and everybody here understands that.”
