Shehbaz’s 40 Minute Wait For Russian President, Uninvited Gate‑Crash Of Putin-Erdogan Meeting: Pakistan’s PM Turns Into Global Joke

Ashgabat: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif managed to turn a routine bilateral slot with Russian President Vladimir Putin into an international comedy sketch, triggering a memefest for the amount of embarrassment he drew in Turkmenistan at the International Forum for Peace and Trust organised in Ashgabat.

Shehbaz Sharif, who is forever touting his balancing act between Moscow, Beijing and Washington, found himself waiting for a full 40 minutes in a side room with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, waiting for a meeting with Putin that never happened. The increasingly impatient red-faced Sharif, who sensed that the unprecedented situation has led to his mockery worldwide, apparently decided to march straight into the adjoining hall where Putin was locked in a closed‑door conversation with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Shehbaz's 10 Minute Awkward Cameo

Drawing a massive embarrassment for the entire country, Shehbaz gate-crashed and positioned himself uninvited squarely in front of the two leaders, leaving a stunned audience and a flood of memes in his wake. After planting himself uninvited in the bilateral meeting and lingering for a brief moment, Shehbaz slipped out again after an awkward 10 minute cameo, leaving the people at the event shocked.

The clip, shared by RT India, has already been converted into a meme‑factory that would make even the most seasoned social influencers blush. One X user likened the episode to “a guy who joined the wrong Zoom call”, while another bluntly declared, “Putin does not want to waste his time on beggars”.

The internet, never one to miss a chance for a good laugh, turned Sharif’s desperate dash for a photo‑op into a full‑blown memefest, complete with GIFs of a flanking hand‑wave and captions about “geopolitical cafeterias and the wrong table”. The extreme scale of the ridicule suggests that Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach sometimes reads more like a reality‑TV show than a measured foreign‑policy strategy.

Putin Gives Cold Shoulder To Shehbaz

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that talks between Putin and Erdogan continued privately after the delegations departed, noting that Sharif had joined the session after expecting a separate meeting with Putin. RT India posted that Sharif waited 40 minutes, grew restless, entered the Putin‑Erdogan talks, stayed 10 minutes, and then exited.

The incident occurred at the International Forum for Peace and Trust in Ashgabat, where leaders from several countries, including Putin, Erdogan and Sharif, were gathered. In a later X post, Sharif praised his meeting with Erdogan, describing “deep, historic bonds” between Pakistan and Turkey and reaffirming cooperation on trade, energy, defence and regional issues.

The embarrassment comes amid heightened attention on Putin’s recent state visit to India, where he was warmly received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The contrast between the Indian welcome and the Ashgabat misstep has amplified the ridicule surrounding Sharif’s impromptu appearance.

Russia-Ukraine Peace Talk

While Sharif was busy gate‑crashing the Putin‑Erdogan meeting, the two leaders were deep in talks about the war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later stated that Russia‑Turkey ties were “multifaceted and diversified”, and that trade and economic cooperation were helping both countries weather pressure from third parties.

The message was clear that the world’s heavyweights have more pressing business than entertaining a prime minister who can’t seem to read a schedule.

Earlier this year, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, he was caught on camera sprinting after Putin for a handshake, only to be ignored. At the same time, the Russian president chatted with PM Modi.

In Ashgabat, Sharif’s behaviour to secure a quick photo‑op with Putin backfired, bringing embarrassment to Pakistan. As per the analysts, the entire episode was a reflection of how Pakistan’s global standing can be undercut by a series of cringeworthy moments, turning serious diplomatic efforts into internet fodder.