Julie Bishop reveals secret conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin

Australia’s former foreign minister Julie Bishop has recalled the confronting conversation she had with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Australia’s former foreign minister Julie Bishop has recalled the confronting conversation she had with Russian president Vladimir Putin just months after Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in 2014.

Ms Bishop revealed she was “mocked” by Putin as Australia struggled to recover bodies and complete an independant investigation over the fallen plane, with Russia “thwarting our efforts at every step”.

It was around the same time then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott promised to shirt-front the Russian President when they met at the APEC summit later that year in November.

“I’m going to shirt-front Mr Putin,” Mr Abbott said during a media conference in Central Queensland.

“You bet you are, you bet I am. I am going to be saying to Mr Putin Australians were murdered (in the Malaysian Airlines tragedy in Ukraine).”

Speaking to the ABC’s Stan Grant last week, Ms Bishop revealed she was the first Australian official to encounter Mr Putin at an Asia Europe summit in Milan after Mr Abbott’s threats.

She followed those comments on Tuesday with the ABC’s Tom Baddeley in Perth, saying she was “surprised” when Putin spoke to her in perfect English.

Julie Bishop meets with Vladimir Putin at the ASEM Summit in Milan in 2014. Photo supplied

She revealed the pair talked for 10-15 minutes and his security was “very upset that he had been left alone and that I was talking directly with him”.

She described some of his comments as “quite menacing”, but Mr Putin himself was “determined, resolute and focused”.

“[In 2014] there was armed fighting in eastern Ukraine and President Putin and the Russian officials maintained that the Ukrainian separatists were independent and that Russia had no influence over them,” she said.

“Of course, we both knew that was not the case, and Russia kept denying that it had any responsibility to assist in an investigation into the cause of the crash of MH17.”

Employees of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service look at the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 two days after it crashed in a sunflower field near the village of Rassipnoe, in rebel-held east Ukraine, on July 19, 2014. Picture: DOMINIQUE FAGET / AFP

She explained that while at the Summit, she noticed that at one moment the security around President Putin left him momentarily “and I seized that moment.

“I approached him, introduced myself, he knew who I was and we moved away from the microphones.”

She said she told Putin Australia’s stance over the downed plane along with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“He listened to every thing I said, his eyes did not ever leave my face, he didn’t blink, not once, and he stared.

“He asked a couple of questions, quite respectfully, and we obviously agreed to disagree.

“In his steely, determined way, he put his head one side and said, ‘so this is what you call a shirt-front?’

“He spoke perfect English but in a way he was mocking me.”

I said: “No Mr President.”

“I got the sense of a man who is utterly determined to have his way, he was formidable, he wasn’t rude, he was quite respectful.

“He is absolutely ruthless in his determination to restore Russian power and prestige.”

She remembered joking to DFAT colleagues after her conversation: “No KGB agent should be that respectful and almost charming”.

Mr Abbott never did short-front President Putin, despite being placed precariously close as world leaders gathered in Beijing in traditional Chinese dress for APEC’s “family photo”.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott with APEC Leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping for the family photo at the Water Cube in Beijing, China in September 2014. Pool Photo: Andrew Meares

Ms Bishop said she it was clear Putin had spent “years” planning the current invasion, “biding his time”

“He is a gambler, he is a risk-taker,” she said.

“He doesn’t believe that Ukraine is a state … and he will not rest until he ensures that Ukraine remains a buffer to serve Russia’s security imperatives.”

“Russia, particularly president Putin, feels humiliated over the demise of the Russian Empire and he is determined to ensure that NATO doesn’t threaten Russian security.”