Myanmar’s newly minted president Htin Kyaw was in largely good form in his first meeting on the world stage with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He’s in Russia for the ASEAN-Russia summit and he had a one-on-one presser with Putin on Thursday.
The talk was relatively banal, with both men thanking each other and Htin Kyaw praising the beauty of Sochi, the city where the most recent Winter Olympic games were held.
But what caught observers’ eyes is the fact that Htin Kyaw spoke English.
“Myanmar president uses simple and great english,” said one comment on a video of the russia Today broadcast uploaded to Facebook.
“Putin was using translator, Ha-ha,” said another commentator.
A separate implication was clear. The previous president, Thein Sein, from the former ruling party, did not speak English in public events.
Some also noticed that Htin Kyaw seemed nervous, but maybe that’s to be expected on your first big showing abroad, and supporters still cheered him on.
