Vladimir Putin's 'nervous' speech as he's sworn in as Russian President after sham vote
EXCLUSIVE: Putin alternated between various emotions on Tuesday as he was sworn in for yet another six-year term, says body language expert Judi James.
Vladimir Putin appeared "nervous" shortly after he was sworn in for his fifth term Tuesday, according to one expert.
The Russian leader briefly dropped his steely facade while addressing the crowd of 2,500 guests.
He will lead the world's biggest country for another six years after consolidating power, squashing dissent and launching a devastating war in Ukraine that has spooked much of the West.
"His speech started low-key and the way he kept his eyes down and even lifted his script into view suggested a small hint of what might pass for nerves," body language analyst Judi James tells Daily Express US.
"He gradually inflated though, using some shoulder-bristling and listing from foot to foot to suggest a build of emotions before the muscles of his cheeks began to pull into a sneer and his tone became one of anger and authority."
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He also claimed he was willing to work with the West. "We are not even refusing the dialogue with Western countries," he said during the inauguration speech.
"We will see if they continue to halt the development of our country and continue to put pressure on our country, or look for ways to cooperate with us."
But he added: "We are a single and great nation and together we will overcome all obstacles and implement and realize everything that we dream of."
The results of the March election have been called a sham, as experts say Putin faced no serious opposition and his bureaucratic state moved to manipulate the rural vote even more than before.
Speaking to Daily Express US, James said that over the course of the speech "his blink rate increased and his stare became piercing and his lips formed a micro-snarl to suggest angry defiance."
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She says he vacillated through multiple states during the heavily choreographed performance, during which he was pictured in his office looking at his papers before walking along the Kremlin’s long corridors, pausing at one point to look at a painting, on the way to his inauguration.
His guard of honor waited in the sleet and rain for hours, in temperatures hovering just above freezing, while Putin made the brief journey to the Grand Kremlin Palace in his Auras limousine.
James says the former KGB officer, 71, went "from humble during the religious ceremony to smiling and more buoyant as he walked past the crowds, although the ending of the non-verbal narrative saw him in his most familiar display recently as he made his speech: that of aggressive arousal as he spoke of 'Our plans will make us stronger' and that 'Together we will win.'"
Russia continues to gain ground in eastern Ukraine two years in, but President Volodymyr Zelensky has recently avoided a fresh attempt on his life by two Russian operatives who planned to kill him with a drone.
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