Vladimir Putin's Many Skills: Playing The Piano, Ice Hockey, Riding Horses, Finding Ancient Treasure And More

Russian President Vladimir Putin took some time to showcase his musical talent ahead of a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday as a video of Putin playing the piano emerged. This is the latest in his numerous skills that have been laid in front of the world in the past.

The Russian president was in Beijing for a summit on the modern Silk Road — referred to as “One Belt, One Road” — introduced by the Chinese president. A signature foreign policy effort by Xi, the summit runs from May 14-15. The initiative includes a $1 trillion plan for infrastructure and economic development in about 60 countries, the New York Times reported.

Read: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin Likely To Meet At G20 Summit In June

According to reports, Putin was enamoured by the grand piano present at the state guesthouse as he waited to see Xi, and decided to sit down and play two tunes. One was the “Evening Song,” by Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi, which is considered an unofficial anthem of Putin’s hometown St. Petersburg (formerly known as Leningrad).

The other was “Moscow Windows,” by Tikhon Khrennikov.

This is not the first time the 64-year-old president has flaunted his numerous talents. See a list of other instances where Putin has revealed his flamboyant self for the benefit of onlookers:

Putin’s love for music

Earlier this year, the Russian president sang to the tune of a Soviet song “14 Minutes till Launch,” during a meeting with students at Moscow State University. The song celebrates the country’s achievements in space.

Putin also gave another performance on the piano, in front of international celebrities like Kevin Costner and Sharon Stone, during a charity event in 2010 while he was the prime minister of Russia.

The famous horse photo

While music is one of the president’s softer skills, Putin concentrates more on his “macho” image, portraying an idea of dominance over his rivals or contemporaries. The first viral instance of this were images of the then prime minister with a horse in Siberia’s Tuva region while he was on vacation in 2009.

The most striking part of the photos was that Putin chose to go without his shirt, sporting dark worker trousers, big boots and a pair of sunglasses, as he ventured out into the wild.

Flying with birds

Putin’s interests do not stop at just horses. The president also went on to take on the role of a parent, but this time to migratory birds, who he led to their winter habitat.

In 2012, Putin got onto a motorized hang glider as he led six endangered Siberian cranes under an operation called “The Flight of Hope.”

Swimming with Dolphins

The Russian president love for wildlife was captured at another instance where Putin was photographed swimming with dolphins

Releasing tigers

There is nothing that Putin can’t do, at least according to Russian state media. Hanging out with tigers seemed like an appropriate move for the former KGB spy as there was an attempt to portray his strength and dominance.

Putin, the sportsman

The Russian president’s love for ice hockey is well known and Putin celebrated his 64th birthday with a game last week. The president scored six goals in the exhibition game for the Night Hockey League at the Bolshoy Ice Dome, another show of his varied talents.

However, it must be noted there may not be many people who would be ready to block one of the world’s most powerful men.

Diving to unearth ancient treasure

Russia’s state-run broadcaster released a video of the president (then prime minister) diving into the Black Sea, off the coast of the Taman Peninsula, to pull out two Greek urns, in a reported attempt to draw attention to a buried archaeological site.