The incident took place on Friday on the sidelines of the International Peace and Trust Forum held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. A bilateral meeting between Putin and Sharif was scheduled during the event, but Russian officials did not facilitate it on time. Pakistani sources said Sharif was made to wait for nearly 40 minutes before he entered the room where Putin was already meeting Erdoğan.
Video clips shared briefly by RT showed Sharif walking into the meeting hall unannounced, remaining inside for about 10 minutes, and then leaving alone. Shortly afterward, Putin was seen exiting the venue and making a brief gesture toward journalists. The footage spread rapidly on social media before being taken down.
RT later stated that the post was removed due to the risk of misinterpretation, without offering further clarification. Neither the Kremlin nor Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Office issued an official statement on the episode.
The incident has drawn attention in diplomatic circles, adding to a series of awkward public moments involving Sharif and Putin at multilateral forums. In September 2025, during a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Beijing, Sharif struggled with his translation earpiece during a bilateral interaction, prompting Putin to demonstrate how to adjust it. Similar scenes were reported at the 2022 SCO summit in Uzbekistan.
Earlier this year at an SCO gathering in Tianjin, Sharif was also seen attempting to greet Putin as the Russian leader walked alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping, a moment that drew widespread commentary.
The International Peace and Trust Forum, held as part of the UN-designated International Year of Peace and Trust, brought together world leaders to discuss global stability and dialogue. While the forum is intended to encourage informal engagement, the episode has highlighted sensitivities around protocol and diplomatic optics, particularly at high-level international events.
