The problem for Naryshkin, who does not appear in the media often, is that the cameras were monitoring his speech and his reaction to Putin’s unexpected words.
The arrangement of the meeting of the Russian National Security Council was for officials to go to the podium in order to speak on the Ukraine crisis.
And when Naryshkin came to the podium, he went on talking, before Putin surprised him by asking if he supported the decision to recognize the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in Ukraine.
Putin interrupted his intelligence director several times, and in one of the clips he was swallowing his saliva, which is one of the signs of human tension.
Adding to the embarrassment of the situation, Putin said to Nareshkin: “To speak frankly” in a manner devoid of diplomacy.
The director of intelligence suggested using the threat of recognition of the two regions to force Ukraine to conclude a peace agreement on Moscow’s terms. Putin quickly interrupted him: “Are you proposing to start a negotiation process or recognize the two regions as independent states? Speak clearly.”
Naryshkin stammered at the time, and said: “I support the decision to recognize,” and Putin interrupted him again: “You support the decision or will you support the decision, speak clearly, Sergey.”
Naryshkin fell into the taboo when he said he supported the two breakaway regions joining Russia to become part of it.
But Putin said that this matter was not up for discussion at the meeting, and that what was being discussed was recognizing them as independent states.