Putin Chatters About His Chinese-Speaking Granddaughter for the First Time
Grandfather Putin introduces his granddaughter publicly for the first time. - Grandfather Putin publicly references granddaughter in unprecedented disclosure.
Hey there! The big honcho, Vladimir Putin, has dropped a bombshell - he's got a granddaughter who chats up a storm in perfect Chinese! During a Q&A session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Putin spilled the beans, saying, "You know, when I yakked about some peeps close to me, relatives, learnin' Chinese, I was referrin' to my granddaughter who's got a kindergarten teacher from Beijing and she speaks fluent Chinese with her."
Up until this point, Putin had kept his grandkids under wraps, not dropping a single name or age. But with this piece of info about his linguistically gifted granddaughter, the state-run Russian news agency TASS and journalist Pavel Sarubin thought it was big enough to send out breaking news alerts.
Now, ol' Vlad's private life isn't exactly an open book. From his 29-year-marriage to German teacher Lyudmila, which came to an end in 2013, we've got two kids: Ekaterina, born in Dresden in 1986, and Maria, a year her senior. Rumors about possible mistresses and other kiddos swirl, but they ain't been confirmed.
Putin's got a thing for the Chinese language these days. What with China being Russia's main BFF and Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping having a cozy relationship, it's no wonder there's a growing interest in Mandarin in the Motherland. Despite Russia's military hoo-ha in Ukraine in 2022, China didn't slap any sanctions on Moscow and refrained from condemning the Kremlin's moves. Both countries keep emphasizing the strength of their two-step[3].
The question-and-answer shindig with Western press folk on the first day of the economic forum took place at the Conservatory in St. Petersburg this year. Russia's all about using this megashindig to strut its stuff on the world stage and thumb its nose at the international cold shoulder from the West.
- Vladimir Putin
- St. Petersburg
- Q&A session
- Beijing
- China
- News agencies
- Mandarin
- Kindergarten teacher
[1] Source: [Enrichment Data 1][2] Source: [Enrichment Data 2][3] Source: [Enrichment Data 5][4] Source: [Enrichment Data 3][5] Source: [Enrichment Data 4]
- EC countries might take note of Russia's growing interest in Mandarin, given the strong relationship between Russia and China, as seen in the language education push in Russia.
- Despite the ongoing political tensions between Russia and other countries due to war-and-conflicts and crime-and-justice issues, Putin's granddaughter learning Chinese offers an interesting perspective on possible future diplomatic relations, especially within the general-news context.
