Cossacks and flowers as Russia's Vladimir Putin dances at Austrian minister's wedding

VIENNA (REUTERS) - Russian President Vladimir Putin danced arm-in-arm with Austria's Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl at her wedding on Saturday (Aug 18), after receiving an invitation that opposition critics said undermined the West's stance against Moscow.
Putin arrived in a car carrying a bouquet of flowers and accompanied, local media said, by a troupe of Cossack singers booked to serenade the newlyweds - on a stopover on his way to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel outside Berlin.
Photographs showed Kneissl, 53, smiling in a long white and cream "dirndl" dress and talking to Putin as they danced in a vineyard in southern Styria province, the venue of her wedding to entrepreneur Wolfgang Meilinger. Putin was pictured listening to her intently.

The invitation surprised many in Vienna and Moscow, particularly at a time when the European Union is at odds with Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region and other issues.
There have been no reports that Kneissl - a polyglot Middle East expert without political affiliation - has a particularly close friendship with Putin. But she was appointed to her job by the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) which has a cooperation agreement with Putin's United Russia party.
FPO leader and Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache has expressed support for Russia and called for sanctions against Moscow to be lifted