‘Vladimir Putin bought me a £16k motorbike as a gift while in Alaska… I should probably write him a thank you letter'
Mark Warren, 66, was given the bike after footage of him complaining he couldn't fix his Soviet-era motorcycle went viral on Russian media.
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Mark Warren, 66, was given a new motorbike by Putin
Credit: AP
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He complained he couldn't get new parts for his Soviet-era bike
Credit: Reuters
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The Russian leader visited Alaska on Friday for talks with Trump
Credit: Reuters
The retired fire inspector, who lives in Anchorage, where the US and Russian leaders met last Friday, rode off with a brand new Ural Gear Up sidecar.
Manufacturing firm Ural, a motors company founded in 1941 in Western Siberia when it was under Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union, now operates in Kazakhstan.
Warren complained he was unable to obtain the correct parts to fix the motorcycle because of supply-and-demand issues and sanctions on Russia.
State-sponsored Russian media spotted Warren running errands on the bike one week before the Trump and Putin summit.
He said: "It went viral, it went crazy, and I have no idea why, because Im really just a super-duper normal guy.
"They just interviewed some old guy on a Ural, and for some reason they think its cool."
On August 13, two days before the Trump-Putin summit to discuss the war in Ukraine, Warren received a call from a Russian journalist.
They told him: "They've decided to give you a bike."
Warren said he was also sent a document noting the gift was arranged through the Russian Embassy in the States.
The Alaska man thought it was a scam - but after Trump and Putin departed Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson following their three-hour summit, he got another call about the bike.
Hilarious moment Zelensky gets revenge on reporter who criticised him for not wearing suit to first Oval Office meeting
Warren was told his new £16,000 bike was at the same base the world leaders had met at.
He was instructed to go to an Anchorage hotel for the handoff.
After arriving alongside his wife, he met six Russian men who presented him with the mind-boggling gift.
"I dropped my jaw," he said.
"I went, 'You've got to be joking me'."
He said the men only asked to interview and picture him.
Two reporters and someone from the group got on the bike with him while he drove around the car park to show it off.
The lucky punter had reservations about the Ural being a malicious Russian scam.
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Putin pictured driving a motorbike in 2019
Credit: AP:Associated Press
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Warren posing with his old and new bike
Credit: AP
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Putin speaking during the press conference in Alaska on Friday
Credit: AP
But he accepted the gift, which according to its paperwork was manufactured on August 12.
He said: "The obvious thing here is that it rolled off the showroom floor and slid into a jet within probably 24 hours."
And he told the Daily Mail: "I'm dumbfounded. I guess I should probably write Putin a thank you letter or something.
"I haven't. I've been so busy it hasn't really sunk in yet."
He added: "It's super cool, you know? I mean, it's just such a unique bike."
It comes as Putin continues to wage his bloody war on Ukraine.
The despot unleashed a fresh breakthrough assault just hours before his summit with Trump.
And just hours after Trump's summit with European allies, Russia blitzed Ukraine over Monday night with 270 drones and missiles.
The brutal attacks targeted energy and transport infrastructure.
Just before Zelesnky and his European counterparts were set to meet Trump on Monday, another vicious attack killed 14 people and injured dozens in Ukraine.
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He said he should write a thank you letter to Putin
Credit: AP
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