A short clip from Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s meeting with Vladimir Putin has shown that even the hardiest blokes tasked with protecting two of the most powerful men on earth can break character.

The video shows one of Putin’s henchmen awkwardly sidle up to one of Xi’s bodyguards before giving him a glance, a smile and a nod, which was reciprocated.

The internet had a field day as the clip made its way across the social media channels, with some joking the momentary grimace did more for international relations than multi-million dollar diplomacy trips ever could.

Cheeky X users were quick to turn the brief encounter into a viral meme, with a debate over “who would win in a fight” raging online.

“That should have been on the undercard of Fury’s fight,” one user wrote.

“The Chinese bodyguard looks more diehard. Will give it to him,” another wrote.

Another suggested the clip was the perfect recipe for a Hollywood smash hit.

“Some Hollywood exec just greenlit a $100m buddy action comedy based on this clip of Putin’s bodyguard meeting Xi’s bodyguard,” journalist Trung Phan posted to X.

The White House said Friday that it had not seen any surprising advance in relations between China and Russia despite Vladimir Putin exchanging a hug with Xi Jinping on a visit to Beijing.

“Exchanging hugs? Well, that’s nice for them,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told a briefing when asked about the significance of photos showing the two US adversaries locked in an embrace.

“I’m not good at talking about personal human bodily affection one way or the other. I think I’ll leave it to these two gents to talk about why they thought it was good to hug one another,” said Kirby, a naval admiral known for his dry remarks from the podium.

The United States has repeatedly voiced concerns about Chinese companies supplying Russia with technology for its invasion of Ukraine.

But Kirby said Putin’s visit did not seem to have secured any major advances in this regard and Washington had not seen Xi “rush” to assist Moscow’s armed forces.

“We didn’t see anything coming out of this meeting that we were necessarily surprised by,” he said.

But he added that, “I wouldn’t go so far as to say we weren’t concerned about this relationship and where it’s going. “We’re watching.” Putin arrived Thursday on his first trip abroad since his March re-election, meeting Xi for talks in which the leaders framed their nations’ ties as a stabilising force in a chaotic world.