As battle drums beat louder alongside the Russia-Ukraine border, French President Emmanuel Macron met together with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Monday, February 7, to attempt to discuss issues out.
Video footage of the high-stakes assembly on the Kremlin in Moscow supplied for a weird spectacle: The 2 leaders exchanged pleasantries with out shaking arms after which sat nearly 20 toes aside on the reverse ends of a very lengthy, white desk. The five-hour assembly ended with no decision, dampening Macron’s hopes for a “historic resolution” to the disaster, as he promised earlier than the assembly.
Was the long-stretched desk setup an influence play on behalf of Putin or mere COVID-19 precaution? Opinions differ however belief social media to reply the way in which it is aware of greatest: An outpouring of satirical memes highlighting the absurdity of the failed diplomatic summit.
Seizing on the event, Samantha Bee’s TV present Full Frontal invited its followers on Twitter to take part within the “first annual Putin and Macron’s weirdly massive desk photoshop problem.”
Followers of the present responded with a protracted thread of memes that includes an array of acquainted characters atop the expansive desk: Mark Zuckerberg browsing with a bucket-full of sunscreen on his face; Senator Bernie Sanders together with his well-known knit mittens from the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris inauguration; and Donald Trump Jr. posing for an image on a sawn tree trunk, amongst many others.
One meme options actor Lily Collins, the star of the TV collection Emily in Paris, becoming a member of the assembly as an observer in her purple beret. One other reveals two pole dancers making good use of the ample house on the three-legged desk, and a 3rd reimagines the room as a backdrop for Leonardo’s “Final Supper.”
Elsewhere within the Twittersphere, customers have rendered the desk right into a seesaw recreation, with Putin and Macron teetering joylessly all through their negotiations. And in one other meme, Macron is seen utilizing a bullhorn to make his factors to Putin on the opposite facet of the room. In a nod to the present Winter Olympics, person @CredoMacKenzie photoshopped two figures skaters gliding alongside the glistening floor of the mega-table.
In equity, Putin has used the identical desk to host a pleasant assembly with Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, earlier this month. Critics is likely to be studying an excessive amount of into the Kremlin room decor, particularly in gentle of studies that the Russian chief has been paranoid about catching COVID-19.
And whereas it’s tempting to mock Macron for his flopped try to emerge because the hero of the day, shouldn’t we cautiously commend him for making an attempt to stop battle? “There’s nonetheless time to protect peace,” he mentioned.