Bouquet Diplomacy: Putin Wows Brigitte Macron, and Internet, With Fresh Flowers

The Russian president's diplomatic gesture, made ahead of talks with his French counterpart in St. Petersburg on Thursday, prompted Twitter users still recovering from Bild's claim that Putin's flowers have a "hidden meaning" to swoon anew.

Last week, Bild wrote a piece suggesting that while Putin's flowers for Chancellor Merkel may have looked "like a courtesy…in fact [they were] an affront."

If that's the case, the Russian president can be said to have a history of "dissing" his guests with bouquets going back nearly two decades. Since he became Russia's president in 2000 and again in 2012, Putin has showered numerous women, as well as a few men, with flowers as a sign of his respect. 

In addition to numerous bouquets for Chancellor Merkel, Putin has also given flowers to Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Austrian diplomat Ursula Plassnik, and the wives of numerous statesmen, from Cherie Blair to Laura Bush to Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan. In 2007, he even gave a boquet to Patriarch Alexy II on the occasion of his 78th birthday.