(YouTube)
He’s known as the hard-nosed president of Russia who’s gone hang gliding, is well-versed in martial arts, plays hockey and has even ridden a horse shirtless.
Vladimir Putin may be the most interesting man in the world.
Now, a video has surfaced of the president tickling the ivory while visiting in Beijing over the weekend.
On Sunday, the 64-year-old Putin was waiting on a meeting with China President Xi Jinping. While awaiting his arrival in the state guesthouse, Putin went to the piano to pass the time and impressed with his musical talent. He played two songs that date back to the 1950s: “Evening Song” by Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi and “Moscow Windows” by Tikhon Khrennikov.
Watch a video of Putin playing the piano below:
Putin was in Beijing for the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, a $1 trillion infrastructure and economic development plan in the works for about 60 countries.
The casual performance on the piano by Putin took some by surprise. But it shouldn’t; Putin has displayed his talents on the piano and also singing on the microphone before.
In 2010, Putin sang a song and played the piano at a charity fundraiser in St. Petersburg.
Putin sang Fats Domino’s “Blueberry Hill” at the event, which raised money for research and awareness of childhood cancer. There were many celebrities from the United States in the audience, including Sharon Stone, Kevin Costner and Goldie Hawn.
Putin led off his musical number by saying, “Like an overwhelming majority of people, I can neither sing nor play, but I very much like doing it.”
It showed the much softer side of Putin. Just one week before the charity event, he invited a toddler who won a competition to name his puppy over to his official residence. Its name is Buffy and it’s a Bulgarian Shepherd.