Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reportedly walked into a closed-door meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, after waiting nearly 40 minutes for his own scheduled interaction with the Russian leader. The incident occurred during an international forum in Turkmenistan marking 30 years of the country’s permanent neutrality.
A video shared by RT India captured the unexpected moment. Posted on X with the caption, “Moment PM Sharif gate-crashed Putin’s meeting with Erdogan after waiting for 40 mins”, the clip shows Sharif entering the room where the two leaders were engaged in private discussions.
❗️🇵🇰 PM Sharif Waited For Over 40 Minutes For President Putin Before Growing Tired And Gate-crashing Russian Leader’s Meeting With Erdogan – RT Correspondent
He left ten minutes later. pic.twitter.com/tgUdPHT4eh
— RT_India (@RT_India_news) December 12, 2025
Sharif Waited 40 Minutes Before Entering the Room
Reports said Sharif, accompanied by foreign minister Ishaq Dar, had been waiting outside for about 40 minutes before stepping in, hoping for at least a brief exchange with Putin. He stayed inside for roughly 10 minutes before leaving.
Meanwhile, during his meeting with Erdogan, Putin discussed efforts to ease tensions linked to the Russia–Ukraine war. According to Erdogan’s office, the Turkish president stressed the importance of pursuing steps toward peace, including a “limited ceasefire” focused on protecting energy facilities and ports. His remarks came amid a spike in attacks on Russia-linked tankers in the Black Sea, some claimed by Kyiv.
Ankara condemned the strikes as a “worrying escalation” and summoned both Russian and Ukrainian envoys. Turkey, which controls the Bosphorus Strait, a critical route for Ukrainian grain and Russian oil shipments, has continued to balance its relations with Moscow and Kyiv despite the conflict.
Erdogan and Putin also discussed broader peace efforts and the European Union’s freezing of Russian assets. Turkey, Erdogan said, remains willing to host dialogue “in any format,” according to Reuters.
