Putin forced to go through metal detector in Singapore
The security services at the ASEAN summit forced the Russian president to go through a metal detector, which is not usually the case for heads of state, who are normally given a separate passage without control. Despite the customary practice, Vladimir Putin was made to walk through a metal detector, Kommersant newspaper reported on Wednesday, November 14.
“He arrived at the summit at the Suntec trade exhibition center and wanted to pass by the metal detector frame as usual, which under such circumstances is for anyone at all, just not for him. But nevertheless, Vladimir Putin was gently redirected through the frame,” Kolesnikov wrote.
When the Russian president walked through, the device “went off”, the journalist noted.
The correspondent called the incident “without exaggeration, a unique situation”.
Putin arrived in Singapore on November 13 to take part in two summits: The Russia – Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and the East Asia Summit. On the day he arrived, he was supposed to meet with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, but the latter cancelled the meeting due to a delay on the Russian president’s side. The two politicians later made arrangements to meet the following day instead.