A joke made today by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama regarding the speculation surrounding the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin and the possible involvement of Russian President Vladimir Putin caused (a little) laughter, but also embarrassment, during a panel at the international conference ” Bled Strategic Forum” in Bled, Slovenia.

Speaking towards the end of a panel before hundreds of people and the prime ministers of Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Kosovo, Rama discussed scenarios in which Putin ordered Prigozhin’s death with an anecdote.

According to it, the Russian prime minister complains to Putin about the time difference that exists between the western and eastern parts of Russia.

“The prime minister went to Putin and said: ‘Mr. President, we have a problem. I sent my family on vacation and I called them on the phone to say goodnight but there it was in the morning, they were on the beach. I called (German Chancellor) Olaf Scholz to I wished him a happy birthday, but he replied that his birthday was the next day. I called (Chinese President) Xi Jinping to wish him a happy new year, but he said it was still the old year.”

And then Putin replied: ‘Yes, it happened to me too, I called Prigozhin’s family to express my condolences for their loss, but the plane hadn’t taken off yet,'” Rama said.

At the joke some people in the room laughed out loud, one or two clapped, the moderator was heard to simply say “aha” while most remained speechless.

The exact circumstances of mercenary boss Wagner’s death remain unclear, but many experts say his death appears to be revenge against the Russian president. Putin’s anger at the time of the Wagner mutiny, the extermination of his opponents, the tough stance adopted by the Kremlin after the start of the invasion of Ukraine: observers invoked various arguments to pin the blame on the Kremlin strongman.

The Kremlin has dismissed as an “absolute lie” the claim that President Putin ordered Prigozhin’s death in revenge, but has stressed that the investigation into the circumstances of the crash will also look into the possibility of sabotage.

Prigozhin was laid to rest at Porokofkoge Cemetery in his hometown of St. Petersburg last Tuesday.