Russian President Vladimir Putin met Angela Merkel on Friday. The outgoing chancellor was caught in an extremely awkward situation when her telephone unexpectedly began to ring at the meeting held before the public's eye.

Russian diplomatic circles will certainly remember for a long time the incident on Friday when Merkel’s phone began to ring unexpectedly and (quite loudly) during her talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, just as the Russian leader was speaking about economic development. The footage published on the Telegram channel of RIA Kremlin Pool clearly shows as Merkel quickly feels the right side pocket on her trousers in an attempt to mute the call but the phone rings several times before the chancellor manages to silence it. The tense expression on the her face reveals how embarrassing the situation was for her.

Putin continued speaking despite the interruption. However, perhaps not by accident, as soon as the ringing stopped, he mentioned being in constant telephone contact with Angela Merkel.

The chancellor was accompanied for the Moscow talks by State Secretary Steffen Seibert and Uta Christine Beinhoff, head of the foreign policy group at the Federal Chancellery, while Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, President Putin’s foreign policy assistant.