America has spent thousands examining Putin's body language: from Madimir to Gladimir, the Russian president in pictures

(Reuters)

Vladimir Putin’s face may seem frozen in the initial stages of rigor mortis, but that hasn't stopped the US from spending thousands of dollars studying the rest of his body language.

The Pentagon has spent over $1.5million since 2009 examining the body “movements” of world figures according to Admiral John Kirby, chief spokesman for the Pentagon.

Leaders including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Saddam Hussein, North Korea's Kim Jong-Un and Osama bin Laden have all been the subject of research by the Office of Net Assessments, a think tank that carries out research for the Department of Defense.

Although Admiral Kirby said there had been no study of Putin in connection with the recent crisis in Ukraine, he said the Russian leader had been studied in 2008 and 2012, along with Medvedev.

Twitter and Facebook users have their own opinions on the appearance of Putin, with many painting the Russian President as some kind of rictus cross between Dobby the House Elf and a drooping Doberman.

Since 2009 around $300,000 has been spent annually examining their body language. We’ve taken a cursory look at Kremlin kinesics and done the following for free.

Meanwhile, world powers will meet in London on Tuesday to thrash out details of sanctions to be levelled against senior Russian officials if Moscow fails to reduce tensions in Ukraine.

The US, for its part, said there was little point to negotiations with Russia as long as its attempts to “annex” the Crimean peninsula continued.