Vladimir Putin jetted out of Australia on Sunday after a testy G20 summit where he faced concerted Western fire over the Ukraine crisis, saying he left slightly early because he needed to get some sleep.
The Russian strongman, a judo black belt who prides himself on his stamina, left before the final communique from the weekend talks was issued, but attended the annual forum’s wrap-up lunch and praised the “constructive” discussions. He thanked Tony Abbott for hosting the event, despite the Australian prime minister threatening to confront him over the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine in July.