Turkish president dozes off during Ukraine summit

The tediousness of international diplomacy appeared too much for Turkish President Recep Erdoğan when he fell asleep during a media conference with Ukraine's leader.

Erdogan was unable to stop yawning and appeared to doze off up to seven times on Sunday while Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko addressed reporters in Kiev.

Poreshenko tried to stir the visiting Turkish strongman leader by knocking on the table but he soon fell back into a slumber, reports euronews.

The pair's joint media conference was held at the end of their three hours of talks, a meeting that was scheduled to last only 45 minutes.

The one-day visit by Erdogan was aimed at building co-operation between the Black Sea neighbours and included lengthy speeches, formal exchanges and pledges to improve cooperation between the two countries, reports Kyiv Post.

Ukraine hoped the meeting would lead to Turkey putting increasing pressure on Russia over the disputed Donbas region, taken over by Russian-backed separatists.

But while Erdogan said he would continue to back Ukraine's sovereignty, he did not say anything about Turkey imposing any sanctions on Russia in response to the Kremlin's aggression.