It was a phrase used by the former Australian Prime Minister that went viral for the wrong reasons and it has come back to embarrass the government once again.

Last year Tony Abbott took to fighting talk and vowed to 'shirtfront' Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin over the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 disaster.

Fairfax reports that the joke has not been forgotten and in August Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov jokingly asked Ms Bishop if the former PM was going to follow through with his high profile threat.

View photos Vladimir Putin and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Photo: Yahoo7 More

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At a meeting Mr Lavrov reportedly asked Ms Bishop: "Is your prime minister still going to shirtfront my president?"

The joke was not lost on US Secretary of State John Kerry who said they had been putting bets on President Putin.

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View photos The joke was not lost on US Secretary of State John Kerry. Photo: Yahoo7 More

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