The leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies are currently gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina for their annual confab on how to keep the world running smoothly.
(It is clearly going very well.)
Two leaders who were very excited to see each other were Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The moment when they spotted each other was captured on film as they — as some commentators have put it — bro'd out, including an extremely vigorous handshake.
Putin and MBS greet each other with huge smiles and handshake in Buenos Aires
It makes sense though that they're glad to see each other — the two are kind of on the outs with a majority of the G20, so it must've been nice to see a...friendly? face.
You see, last week, Russia seized several ships from Ukraine's navy in the Azoz Sea, threatening to ramp up the long-running conflict between them.
President Donald Trump canceled his meeting with Putin (via Twitter, naturally) while en route to Argentina, citing the Ukraine crisis as the official reason for the change.
Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting....
There may have been other factors in play in the decision: Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty on Thursday to lying to Congress about the Trump Organization's pursuit of a real estate deal in Russia during the 2016 campaign.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted that Ukraine was the only reason for the cancellation: “The Russian Witch Hunt Hoax, which is hopefully now nearing an end, is doing very well. Unfortunately, it probably does undermine our relationship with Russia. However, the reason for our canceled meeting is Ukraine. Hopefully, that will be resolved soon so that productive conversations can begin.”
Despite that, by Friday morning things had evolved into there maybe, probably, possibly is going to be a short chat between the two.
Prince Mohammed, for his part, is still dealing with the aftermath of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, including an investigation launched by an Argentine federal prosecutor.
Argentine law includes a concept known in international law as "universal jurisdiction" which — in short — says that human rights violations on a large enough scale can be prosecuted by any country, no matter where the crimes take place.
Human Rights Watch used that to file a case in Argentina against bin Salman, related to his likely role in Khashoggi's murder, the reported torture of female activists, and war crimes during his country's ongoing war in Yemen. While it's unlikely that any action will be taken against Prince Mohammed while he's actually in Argentina, any investigation at all is still an embarrassment for the young leader.
But back to the handshake. The chummy greeting quickly went viral, with most of the gallows humor centered around the penchant both have for killing journalists and other critics.
PUTIN: Bone sawwwwwwww waddup MBS: Humbled!!!! You were having journalists killed while I was in school! Kinda can't believe this is happening bro https://t.co/RETwWNGIoU
"Love your work" "What can I say, you're an inspiration" https://t.co/AAwDqbRQHu
Putin: "Bonesaws, man? That shit is dope" MBS: "Aye, but the true dope is home-made nerve agents" https://t.co/kK5uELnnzq
Bros before murdered journos #khashoggi https://t.co/kGxMrTFpSL
Like the NBA All-Star Game locker room, except about murdering dissidents and getting away with it https://t.co/rvwe8rBK8w
But they're clearly taking their pariah status in stride, if the pictures of them seated together are any indication.
Not a care in the world, these two. Not a single care.