Москва, Кремль, Путин / Moscow, Kremlin, Putin / 24 May
At the Kremlin we were met by a very Russian-looking general, taken down these huge corridors and shown into the inner sanctum. I asked if Tony Blair had been in here but the translator said no, apparently there was another room for him, and this was even more inner sanctum, this was Putin''s private quarters. Putin stage-managed it of course, but when you''re in the Kremlin you don''t walk in and say, right, we want to do this and that. So we met Putin in front of all the cameras, then he sent all the press out, and eventually he even sent his translator out, because he speaks pretty good English. And he was fabulous. We had a quite intimate conversation about his life, which was quite refreshing. Then I asked, ''Are you coming to the show?'' and he said, ''I''m not sure I''ll be able to get there,'' which I understood, because of all the security issues. But there was a piano in there so I played him ''Let it Be''. I hadn''t been so nervous in years - it was my first gig in Russia, and it was just me, Heather and Putin.“I was with Putin this afternoon; he invited me and Heather to the Kremlin. I was telling him I like to speak to the crowd"
So Putin suggested addressing the crowd ''Privet rebiata!'' (hi guys!)
Extract from the press-conference
Q: Сэр Пол, скажите, пожалуйста, о чем вы сегодня разговаривали с президентом Путиным?
Q: Sir Paul, could you tell us please what were the topics of your discussions with president Putin today?
Paul: It''s a secret, I can''t tell you (laughter). Now, first of all it was very sort of formal. And we talked about just how happy I was to be in Russia and he welcomed Heather and I. But then it got to be more informal and we talked about lot of things. He seems to be a really nice guy. And we talked about the fact that he was a wrestler. We talked about a lot of things -- horse-riding, music. I sang him a song. Cause he couldn''t come to the concert tonight so I gave him little private. But he was very nice, it was really nice to meet him, it was an honour to meet him. He seems like the great head of the state. We talked about people, we are all from working class families -- he is, Heather is and I am, and we talked about the value of people and families.
Пол : Это секрет, я не могу вам сказать. Ну ладно, сперва, все было очень формально. И мы говорили о том, как я счастлив быть в России, и он поприветствовал Хизер и меня. А потом беседа стала более неформальной, и мы говорили о многом. Он показался мне действительно приятным человеком. И мы говорили о том, как он занимался борьбой. Мы говорили о многом: о верховой езде, музыке. Я спел ему песню. Он не сможет прийти на концерт сегодня вечером, поэтому я дал ему небольшой частный [концерт]. И он был очень любезен, было приятно встретиться с ним, это большая честь -- встретиться с ним. Он, похоже, -- замечательный глава государства. Мы говорили о людях, о семьях, мы все -- выходцы из рабочих семей -- он, Хизер и я, и мы говорили о человеческих ценностях и о семье.
Q: Which song did you perform?
Q: А что вы исполнили?
Paul: Let it Be
Finally, McCartney''s Back in the U.S.S.R.
