Whispering Macron, Cold Gaze Zelensky... 'Awkward Greeting' Meme Sparks Buzz

"Shared with humorous captions like 'Talking with Putin is meaningless, I only loved you'
Macron's statement 'Russia should not be humiliated' causes confrontation with Zelensky

Emmanuel Macron, President of France (right), embracing Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine (left), along with a whisper. Photo by AFP, Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Se-eun] An awkward greeting exchanged between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron has become a viral meme on the internet.

Earlier, President Macron sparked criticism from President Zelensky by stating on the 4th that "Russia should not be humiliated" regarding the Ukraine war situation.

The photo in question was taken after President Macron visited Kyiv, Ukraine, along with the leaders of Germany, Italy, and Romania, and held a joint press conference with President Zelensky.

In the photo, while President Macron is smiling, President Zelensky is staring at the camera with a cold expression, only holding Macron's hand.

Netizens created memes from this photo, recalling the tense relationship between the two leaders in the past.

A Ukrainian journalist, recalling when President Macron had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, captioned the photo with "It meant nothing that I talked to him. I have always loved you."

Another meme, regarding France's military support to Ukraine, was captioned "Love you a lot. And there are only six howitzers," referring to President Macron's promise to provide six additional Caesar self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine.

A photo of President Zelensky (left) and President Macron (right) hugging, shared as a meme on the social networking service (SNS) Twitter. Photo by Twitter capture, Yonhap News Agency

There were also witty captions such as "I'll call more often" and "That's why President Putin put a long table."

Ludovic Marin, an AFP journalist who took the photo, said on the 17th (local time), "President Macron was whispering something into President Zelensky's ear," and added, "I don't know why President Zelensky is looking at us."

He continued, "It is true that there is a difference in the expressions of the two presidents," and added, "This is very surprising."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.