Putin and Obama shake hands like kids forced to hug after fighting

Remember when Beyoncé and First Lady Michelle Obama embraced in a big ol’ bear hug at Saturday’s Global Citizen Festival? President Barack Obama’s handshake with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday was kinda like that, except drained of all joy, love, magic, and life.

So basically, it was nothing like that. Watch and cringe with Reuters’ video footage of the encounter below (via The Guardian).

The two world leaders spent the better part of their opening speeches calling each other out, The New York Times reports. Obama criticized Putin for assisting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Putin fired back that he was “valiantly fighting terrorism face to face.”

The Times says that Putin and Obama then held a private, 95-minute meeting. Upon emerging, they stiffly shook hands for photographers and left the room.

Apparently, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had to sit between the two men at a luncheon he hosted that day. I wonder if he told them that he “will turn this General Assembly around!!!!” if they don’t “knock it off back there!!!!”