Putin is apparently, according to his biographer, a perfectionist and considers that his German and English are not as good as he would like. His English is not as good as his German, and once he actually quoted Kipling in passing and it turned out he had read him in German translation. German is his second language; he was apparently posted to Dresden in order to keep an eye on the Stasi. For some reason I find that funny.
From what I understand, a Serb talking to a Russian would be something like someone with a strong Glasgow accent talking to someone from rural Kentucky.
