Putin dances at Austrian wedding

Russian President Vladimir Putin danced arm-in-arm with Austria’s Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl at her wedding yesterday, after receiving an invitation that opposition critics said undermined the West’s stance against Moscow.Putin arrived in a car carrying a bouquet of flowers and accompanied, local media said, by a troupe of Cossack singers booked to serenade the newlyweds – on a stopover on his way to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel outside Berlin.Photographs showed Kneissl, 53, smiling in a long white and cream “dirndl” dress and talking to Putin as they danced in a vineyard in southern Styria province, the venue of her wedding to entrepreneur Wolfgang Meilinger.Putin was pictured listening to her intently.The invitation surprised many in Vienna and Moscow, particularly at a time when the European Union is at odds with Russia over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and other issues.There have been no reports that Kneissl – a polyglot Middle East expert without political affiliation – has a particularly close friendship with Putin.However, she was appointed to her job by the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), which has a co-operation agreement with Putin’s United Russia party.FPOe leader and Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache has expressed support for Russia and called for sanctions against Moscow to be lifted.