Russian President Vladimir Putin was seated next to the US first lady, Melania Trump, at a banquet for G20 leaders and their spouses after a concert at the summit in Hamburg, the Guardian reports.

The pair smiled as they talked through the help of a translator.

US President Donald Trump was seated away from his wife and next to Juliana Awada, the wife of Argentina’s president. Across the table was China’s President Xi Jinping and Brigitte Macron, wife of the French president.

The source notes that the G20 Summit has been dominated by a lengthy meeting between Trump and Putin, during which the Russian president denied interfering in the US election.

The dinner followed a concert in the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, which was staged for G20 leaders and their partners. Trump and the US first lady were seated with President Emmanuel Macron of France and his wife during the performance.

Beforehand leaders of the G20 nations and their partners posed for their traditional ‘family photo’.