Putin speaks German during Kremlin work meeting

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke in German during a work meeting. The Kremlin released a clip of the meeting on its official Telegram channel.

The president was speaking with a German citizen who had moved to the Volgograd region of Russia. The man asked Putin for assistance in obtaining Russian citizenship.

Putin promised to help resolve the issue and facilitate the man's citizenship request.

Earlier, the Russian president made comments about Germans in general. He stated that citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany currently living in Russia are not responsible for the crimes committed by the Nazis.

"Yes, historical memory certainly exists, and we must not forget about it. But placing the blame on today’s generation of Germans for what had happened in the 1930s and 1940s seems unfair to me,” Putin said. He also added that he still has many friends in Germany.

Putin's IQ and German skills

Vladimir Putin is known to have some proficiency in foreign languages, particularly German. He became fluent in German during his time as a KGB officer stationed in East Germany in the 1980s. Putin often demonstrates his German-speaking skills in diplomatic settings and interviews, and he has held conversations directly in German with various officials and journalists. His English skills, however, are more limited. While he reportedly understands English fairly well and has been seen speaking it on rare occasions, he usually opts to speak Russian and use an interpreter in official international engagements.

As for his intelligence, no official IQ score has ever been publicly confirmed for Vladimir Putin. However, observers and analysts often describe him as highly intelligent, strategic, and calculating, particularly in political and geopolitical matters. His long tenure in power, background in law and intelligence, and reputation for thorough preparation before meetings and negotiations contribute to this perception. Some speculative sources have suggested high IQ scores, but such claims are unverified and should be taken cautiously. Nonetheless, Putin is generally regarded as a sharp tactician with a deep understanding of Russian history, statecraft, and international relations.

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Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. He is the longest-serving Russian president since the independence of Russia from the Soviet Union. Putin worked as a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He resigned in 1991 to begin a political career in Saint Petersburg. In 1996, he moved to Moscow to join the administration of President Boris Yeltsin. He briefly served as the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and then as secretary of the Security Council of Russia before being appointed prime minister in August 1999. Following Yeltsin's resignation, Putin became acting president and, less than four months later, was elected to his first term as president. He was reelected in 2004. Due to constitutional limitations of two consecutive presidential terms, Putin served as prime minister again from 2008 to 2012 under Dmitry Medvedev. He returned to the presidency in 2012, following an election marked by allegations of fraud and protests, and was reelected in 2018.