Russian President Vladimir Putin played a piano impromptu at a Chinese state residence, playing a few chords of two popular Soviet Union-era musical tunes while waiting for a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to start.
Putin briefly played chords to "Moscow Windows" and "Evening Song" but added that the piano was out of tune, Reuters reported. Putin was caught on camera in front of the piano at the Beijing residence.
The Russian news agency Sputnik called the second song "The City on the Free Neva River." The songs are the unofficial anthems of Moscow and St. Petersburg, respectively.
"It's a pity that the piano was out of tune," Putin, 64, said about the spur of the moment recital, according to Reuters. "It was quite hard to play, even for me, someone who plays with two fingers. I cannot say I played, I was just pressing the keys with two or three fingers.
"I thought that if Mr Peskov is filming, it's probably for personal use, for the archive," Putin said, referring to his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, stated the news agency. "But they decided to post it. But never mind. I think I didn't let you down."
Sputnik posted a video of Putin's piano performance on Twitter.
Putin attended the One Belt – One Way economic forum in Beijing on Sunday, and joined Xi's residence for a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Sputnik said.
National Public Radio reported that in 2014, Putin played "Moscow Windows" on piano at a meeting with students at the Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute. Putin also played and sang a version of "Blueberry Hill" at a charity fundraiser in 2010, NPR noted.
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