Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un Did NOT Refuse To Drink After A Toast — The Video Is Edited

Does a recently resurfaced old video show Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un refusing to drink after making a toast? No, that’s not true: The original video from the 2019 North Korea-Russia summit shows the world leaders toasting each other and those beside them, and then both taking a sip of their drink. The edited version of this video appeared on Twitter as early as 2023, showing the leaders appear to hesitate before then they both put their glasses down without drinking.

The video resurfaced in a thread on X (archived here) on July 30, 2025. It opened:

Thread of Vladimir Putin in unique situations 🧵

1. That awkward moment when you can’t recall which glass holds the poison… 😬

This is how the post appeared at the time of writing:

The post on X is a thread of 20 different video clips. This fact check will focus only on the first video showing the toast. The 11-second video clip posted on X has been edited. It shows the leaders appear to be suspicious of each other after toasting, hesitating awkwardly without taking a sip from their cups.

The original video was posted on YouTube (archived here) by Bloomberg News on April 25, 2019. This unedited video shows the toast between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, who then turn and each toast the people beside them — who do not appear in the frame. At 6 seconds, in one continuous shot, the camera zooms out to show all eight people gathered at the table, including the leaders of Russia and North Korea. Everyone sips from their glasses and begins to take their seats as the 19 second video clip ends.