Why He Won't Speak English - Inside Putin's Bizarre Power Play ...

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Prior to launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had held high stakes talks with a number of western leaders, in an effort to diffuse tensions in the region. Most of these took place with the aid of an interpreter. But, what languages can Mr Putin speak?

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What languages can Vladimir Putin speak?

Mr Putin does speak English, with his level of fluency often praised by onlookers.

In addition to Russian and English, the 69-year-old can also speak German.

According to the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, the Russian President’s English is good enough to correct his own interpreters.

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(Image: GETTY)

Vladimir Putin does speak English but during negotiations will use translators (Image: GETTY)

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He said: “In free discourse, at the sidelines of summits, he often speaks in English by himself.

“But during negotiations and when he is conducting an official meeting, of course he communicates through a translator.

“However, he practically understands English completely and sometimes even corrects the translators.

“A translator will always have a crisis moment. I worked as a translator at a high level myself, which is why I’m familiar with the stress of it.”

In addition to Russian and English, Vladimir Putin can also speak German (Image: EXPRESS)

During a series of interviews broadcast in 2017 with the American film director Oliver Stone, Mr Putin regularly interchanged between English and Russian.

When Mr Putin served as a KGB agent in the East German city of Dresden in the 1980s, he spoke German on a daily basis.

Asked why he speaks Russian as opposed to English when attending national summits and the like, Mr Putin answered the question himself some years ago.

He said: “In Russia, thank God, I get by in German and I can express myself more or less in English.”

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Mr Putin has held a number of talks with US President Joe Biden in recent months (Image: GETTY)

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When Mr Putin has held talks with US President Joe Biden in recent months, translators have been used on every occasion.

The most recent of these meetings took place in February, when the two engaged in an hour-long phone call.

The ongoing crisis in Ukraine was discussed, with Mr Biden warning of “severe costs” for Russia should it launch an invasion into its ex-Soviet neighbour.

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Despite insisting that it had no intention of invading Ukraine a full-scale invasion of its ex-Soviet neighbour was launched by Russia more than two months ago.

Mr Putin has demanded that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) cease its movements in eastern Europe.

This comes after the Kremlin had expressed security concerns against NATO expansion towards its border.

However, before the end of January, the US rejected the Kremlin’s proposals, leaving diplomatic talks at a stalemate.

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