Vladimir Putin gifts 'friend' Donald Trump his portrait amid ceasefire talks, says Kremlin

Earlier this month, Donald Trump's painting was given to his special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow, the Russian president's spokesperson confirmed.

The Kremlin on Monday confirmed that Russian president Vladimir Putin gifted a portrait of Donald Trump to the US President in the backdrop of the ongoing talks to achieve a ceasefire deal to halt the war in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also prayed for 'friend' and US counterpart Donald Trump when he was shot during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. (File Image/Reuters)

Earlier this month, Trump's painting was given to his special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow, said the Russian president's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Witkoff had talked about the gift during an interview with Tucker Carlon last week, saying that the US president was "clearly touched" by the portrait, which he described as "beautiful", a report from The Associated Press said.

Steve Witkoff had met with Vladimir Putin after the talks with Russian officials about trying to bring an end to the Ukraine war. Meanwhile, ceasefire talks continued to take place in Saudi Arabia on Monday, where US and Russian officials met to discuss possibilities of such an agreement.

Trump's special envoy also described the Russian president's gift as "gracious", recalling how Putin told him that he prayed for his US counterpart last year when he came to know that the then-presidential candidate had been shot at during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

"He was praying for his friend," Witkoff said while recounting the Russian leader's words.

Soviet-era practice: Checking gifts from Russia

During Trump's first term in the White House in 2018, Putin had gifted a soccer ball to him. The Secret Service had vetted this ball for any listening devices before handing it over to Trump, who then gave it to his son.

The act of checking the gift for any bugs dates back to a Soviet-era gift to a US diplomat, that turned out to be a way for the Soviet Union to eavesdrop on conversations in the US.

A carving of the Great Seal of the US was gifted to the then-US Ambassador Averell Harriman by Soviet school children in 1945. This carving hung in the ambassador's office for six years, paving the way for the Soviet Union to listen in on his conversations until the State Department found that it contained a hearing bug.

However, it was not immediately known whether the portrait gifted to Trump by Putin had been checked for any bugs.

Before Trump, Putin had also gifted former US president Joe Biden a $12,000 lacquer writing box and pen when they met during a summit in Geneva. In 2013, he also reportedly sent porcelain plates and espresso cups to the then-President Barack Obama.

Previously, the Russian president reportedly gifted a portrait of George HW Bush to the former president on his 90th birthday in 2014.