G7 leaders mock photo of bare-chested Putin on horseback

TIL Desk/World/Berlin(Germany)/ The leaders of the Group of Seven on Sunday (local time) mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin over his shirtless, bare-chested horse-riding picture. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau could be heard on a video joking about their impending photoshoot.

“Jackets on? Jackets off? Shall we take our clothes off?” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked other leaders sitting around a table. “We all have to show that we’re tougher than Putin.” “We’re going to get the bare-chested horseback riding display,” Trudeau quipped, referencing a widely shared photo of Putin. “There you go! There you go! We’ve got to show them our pecs!” Johnson responded.

Putin has often appeared shirtless in images disseminated by the Kremlin. Putin’s predilection for going shirtless doing outdoor activities is part of his carefully crafted strongman image. The Russian President is also an accomplished Taekwondo practitioner The G7 leaders, Johnson and Trudeau joked about Putin during the first day of the three-day G7 summit in the Bavarian Alps.