Boris Yeltsin circling over Shannon diplomatic incident

On 30 September 1994, Boris Yeltsin, then President of the Russian Federation, was scheduled for an official state visit to Ireland but failed to get off his plane when it landed at Shannon Airport.

He cut his visit short and returned to Ireland, landing at Shannon airport just a few hours before Yeltsin's scheduled arrival.

The Irish Defence Forces brought in the band of the Southern Command and deployed one hundred soldiers of the 12th Infantry Battalion to serve as an honor guard.

An Aeroflot official informed Kozyrev that Yeltsin was unwell and that the vice premier, Oleg Soskovets, would meet with the Irish delegation.

[8][9][10][11] The Irish Times ran a cartoon on its front page the next day which depicted a bottle of vodka bouncing down mobile stairs while an onlooker states, "At last a message from President Yeltsin.

Its editorial page stated, "When a statesman occupying one of the most pivotal positions imaginable neglects basic courtesy and insults his hosts, searching questions must be asked about his fitness to hold office.

"[14] The Irish Press criticised the lack of respect shown to Reynolds and suggested that Yeltsin's excuses be taken with "a large measure of vodka.

"[6] Yeltsin wrote to Reynolds on October 4 to express "sincere regret that due to an unfortunate mishap our meeting at Shannon failed to take place.

Reynolds subsequently claimed that he had used the incident to extract favours from Yeltsin regarding the operation of Aer Rianta International in Russia.