Russian leader Vladimir Putin has shown off his fancy footwork as he limbered up for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The Russian leader stopped in on the Austrian foreign minister's wedding where he danced with the bride as guests looked on.

Image: Wolfgang Meilinger prepares to carry his bride over the threshold

Image: Flirty dancing: Mr Putin appeared to share a joke with the bride while they danced

Karin Kneissl married her partner, businessman Wolfgang Meilinger, in a ceremony near the southern border with Slovenia.

Mr Putin was showing support for Ms Kneissl, an independent politician who was proposed for the role by the pro-Russia Austrian Freedom Party, whose leaders were also at the nuptials.

Mr Putin and the bride, dressed in traditional Austrian costume, appeared to share a joke as they made their way round the dancefloor.


Image: Angela Merkel welcomes Vladimir Putin to Schloss Meseberg castle for talks

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Amid tight security, the Russian president brought a small Cossack men's choir along with him to entertain the 100 or so guests, Austrian public broadcaster ORF said.

Mr Putin's presence at the wedding was criticised by Austrian opposition politicians.

Joerg Leichtfried of the Social Democratic Party said it could jeopardise Austria's role as a neutral intermediary in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-backed rebels are fighting government forces.

Image: A traditional Don Cossack Choir performed at the wedding

Image: Bride and groom kiss before the ceremony

Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the president spent about an hour at the wedding and gave the newlyweds a cold press oil machine, a traditional Russian samovar and a landscape painting that "depicts the place where the groom hails from".

Later, Mr Putin travelled to Berlin for talks with Mrs Merkel to discuss the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, as well as Iran and a gas pipeline project that has drawn US ire.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters no agreements were reached, but the meeting had simply been intended to "check the watches" after Mrs Merkel's meeting with Mr Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in May.