• Vladimir Putin met with fellow heads of state on Wednesday at a massive table in Turkmenistan.
  • It dwarfs the Kremlin's 13-foot-long table that Putin used to meet Macron and other leaders.
  • Reports have speculated that Putin is very conscious of other people's germs. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with fellow heads of state on Wednesday at a massive table in Turkmenistan that dwarfed a comically long table at the Kremlin that previously captured global attention.  

Meeting with the leaders of Turkmenistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan, Putin sat far from other leaders at a massive rectangular table as they discussed cooperation in the Caspian Sea region, the Kremlin said. 

According to the Turkmenistan government, the 6th Caspian Summit was held at the "luxurious Arkadag Hotel."

But before the meeting took place in what Turkmenistan's foreign affairs ministry referred to as the "Large Conference Hall," there was a more intimate meeting at the hotel's "Small Conference Hall."

 

The sixth Caspian Summit featured not one, but two large meeting tables. The second, while far more understated, was still of an above-average size for a meeting table. Foto: Office of the President of Russia

The table at the sixth Caspian Summit was so huge that Putin himself — seated on the far end —can hardly be seen in some official photos.. Foto: Office of the President of Russia

It didn't take long for photos of the large rectangular table to make the rounds on social media.

Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to Ukraine's internal affairs minister, tweeted a photo of the table underneath a significantly smaller table used by heads of state at this week's G7 summit in Germany.

Various journalists also tweeted their thoughts and made jokes about the table.

This isn't the first time Putin has sat at above-average-sized tables for meetings, but the one in Turkmenistan certainly dwarfs the others. 

He previously met with French President Emmanuel Macron in February at a 13-foot-long table in Moscow, and the Kremlin broke out the same table for a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres a few months later. 

Russian state media even broadcast Putin meeting with other world leaders at a "long but round" table in May — a step away from the long one. 

The New York Times previously reported that Putin may be obsessed over his health and safety — especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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