"These were two depleted politicians, seemingly going through the visual motions for a Kremlin film crew that wasn’t really trying either. Putin and Shoigu looked a bit like the elderly wise guys in Scorsese’s movie, The Irishman: hunkered in a place they would leave if they could, muttering the lines they knew had to be said out loud. It wasn’t clear if they were trying to reassure the audience or merely themselves.
Neither man looked well or at ease in his skin. Throughout the 12-minute exchange with Shoigu, Putin tapped his feet awkwardly while his right hand gripped onto the edge of the table vice-like, as if desperate to steady himself: here was the Kremlin muzhik [it apparently means 'tough guy', ironically] for once displayed in what seemed to be abject discomfort."
The Spectator today