THIS was the frosty moment Vladimir Putin came face to face with a former ally – in a strained handshake that could point to the Kremlin’s next conflict.

Footage from Beijing shows the 72-year-old Russian tyrant , boosted by his trademark platform shoes, awkwardly trying to edge past Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev before China’s huge military parade.

The pair exchanged a brief, tight-lipped greeting before Vlad turned to shake hands with Aliyev’s wife, Mehriban, Azerbaijan’s First Lady and vice-president.

That encounter too looked stiff, as Putin forced his way forward through the crowd of world leaders.

Just moments earlier, Aliyev had warmly embraced leaders from Uzbekistan and Serbia.

With Putin, the atmosphere was markedly different.

Relations between Moscow and Baku have sour

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