In a press conference in Moscow on Monday, British Prime Minster David Cameron and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had a light-hearted moment discussing an alleged attempt to recruit Cameron to the KGB.
Back in 1985, Cameron was on a gap year adventure behind the Iron Curtain, on holiday at Yalta on the Black Sea coast. The young Etonian was innocently sunning himself on the beach when he, and his fellow travelling partner, were approached by a two friendly Russian men.
Perhaps sensing that Cameron and his friend appreciated the finer things in life, the men invited the teenagers to a caviar supper. However, it was a business rather than pleasure engagement, according to Cameron, who insists that it was an attempt by the KGB to recruit him.
"We were obviously very careful and guarded but later on, when I got to university, my politics tutor said that was a definite attempt," Cameron said.
Referring to the incident, Medvedev commented: "I'm pretty sure that David would have been a very good KGB agent".
It seems that the Russian president may have just been flattering his guest. Compared to his fellow prime minister, Vladimir Putin, Cameron does not seem a likely contender for the KGB.
Cameron manages a little commuter cycling and the odd jog around the park, but he is hardly in Putin-esque, pneumatic muscle condition. He did not even manage to beat the portly Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, in a friendly tennis match last week. What chance would he stand against hunting, shooting, fishing ex- KGB man, Putin?
Here Putin displays the skills needed to be a real KGB action man: