’Putin tried to intimidate me’ says former president in revealing interview

Russian President Vladimir Putin attempted to intimidate and use scare tactics during meetings together, former Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga has revealed.

In an interview with Klubs magazine, VIke Freiberga revealed intimate conversations with Putin and admitted the head of the Russian federation could become quite annoyed during conversations.

The former president said: ''Mr. Putin attempted to intimidate me already in our first meeting. This did not really work out for him, and he became quite annoyed,'' the former Latvian president said. ''But, he is a man who could in seconds turn his frown upside down into an affectionate smile and instantly become a completely different person. He could transform a serious face into a friendly face just as easily as opening and then turning off a faucet.''

Asked whether Putin attempted to intimidate her using words, Vike-Freiberga pointed out that the Russian president attempted to do so with his attitude.

''He tried to present himself as the head of some huge empire, and that we are just some insignificant land. For example, complaining about his compatriots in Latvia, he said to me that there used to be no borders in the Soviet Union, and that residents were able to travel back and forth in a brotherly way, and that this was something that was very great. 

"I told him: you know, many of my compatriots, who were given free tickets across these borders, would have certainly preferred travelling with Latvian passports to Paris or London, instead of in cattle cars to Siberia.''

''This was probably not the direction he wished this conversation to end up at,'' Vike-Freiberga admitted.

Former Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga (pic: twitter)