Zelenskyy poked fun at Putin's preposterously long table during an interview with David Letterman

David Letterman sits down with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a special episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.

COURTESY OF NETFLIX

• The Ukrainian president poked fun at Russian President Vladimir Putin's excessively long table. 
• "He loves his life so much," Zelenskyy said when asked about the risk of a nuclear attack.
• Pointing at the "ridiculously" long table, he said Putin "is afraid of catching COVID-19 or some other infection."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy poked fun at Russian President Vladimir Putin's affinity for meeting with foreign leaders and Russian officials at incredibly long tables during an interview with David Letterman for a special episode of "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction."

During their discussion, which took place over Zoom five weeks after an underground meet-up in Kyiv, Letterman asked the Ukrainian president if, given the Russian leader's repeated nuclear threats and warnings, the use of nuclear weapons was "as likely as everyone feared."

While Zelenskyy admitted that the threat was real, he also noted that he saw in Putin the "desire to live," suggesting that the Russian president likely wouldn't carry out a nuclear attack because a retaliatory attack could put his life in danger.  

"He loves his life so much," Zelenskyy said. "He even chooses to sit at that ridiculously long table. He is afraid of catching COVID-19 or some other infection." 

"This indicates that he is afraid of death," he told Letterman. "So I'm not sure if he is ready to use a nuclear weapon." 

Putin has been seen regularly meeting with world leaders at an impractically long table, photos of which have been circling the internet for a while.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meets French President Emmanuel Macron (R) on February 07, 2022 in Moscow, Russia.

Kremlin Press Office/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

In February, French President Emmanuel Macron refused a COVID-19 test before meeting with Putin out of fear Russia would steal his DNA, prompting the need to meet at the long table. And in April, Putin broke out the long table again to host United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with leaders of the countries of the CTSO.

Contributor/Getty Images

Putin debuted another excessively large table in May for a meeting with members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin was spotted in official photos seated at one end of a ridiculously huge table, along with the heads of state of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

Office of the President of Russia

But in June, Putin's long table was dwarfed by a massive table as the Russian leader met with fellow heads of state in Turkmenistan. 

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