Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was seen standing his ground during a chat with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia's Bali, in a brusque exchange caught on camera.
"Everything we discussed has been leaked to the papers, that is not appropriate. And that was not the way the conversation was conducted," Xi was heard telling Trudeau on Wednesday through a translator, at the closing session of the G20.
The Canadian Prime Minister was then heard responding cordially, "In Canada, we believe in free, and open, and frank dialogue and that is what we will continue to have. We will continue to look to work constructively together, but there will be things we will disagree on."
After Trudeau's response, the two shook hands and went separate ways, with Xi maintaining his demeanour of a smiling but disappointed headmaster, and saying, "That's great, but let's create the conditions first."
The exchange was recorded by a camera crew at the venue.
Trudeau spoke with Xi on Tuesday, and his office said that he had raised concerns about Chinese interference in Canadian elections. He also raised the war in Ukraine, North Korea and climate change in their ten-minute conversation, according to reports quoting a government source.
The exchange with Trudeau was not the only snag for Xi at the event. A scheduled meeting between him and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was called off due to "time pressures," according to UK newspaper Guardian.
Leaders of the world's Group of 20 (G20) wealthiest nations concluded a two-day summit on the Indonesian island of Bali on Wednesday deploring Russia's aggression in Ukraine "in the strongest terms", among other highlights.
French President Emmanuel Macron urged China to play a "greater mediation role" to help avoid an escalation of the Ukraine war, a day after talks with Xi.