Showman Putin steals the show in Beijing with piano performance

BEIJING: Russian President Vladimir Putin overshadowed China’s multi-billion dollar efforts to resurrect the ancient Silk Road by showing off his piano skills.

While waiting to meet with President Xi Jinping at a State Guesthouse on the sidelines of Beijing’s “One Belt, One Road” summit, Putin sat down at a grand piano and played a couple of tunes from his childhood for the cameras. Russian state media reports that the leader played “Evening Song” by Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi and “Moscow Windows” by Tikhon Khrennikov.

The Russian leader isn’t shy about displaying himself as a macho renaissance man, also participating in judo, ice hockey and horseback riding ― the latter sometimes shirtless.