Before getting down to the hard business of fixing the economy, ending the Ebola epidemic¹ and getting to the bottom of the situation in Ukraine, participants of the high-level talks in Brisbane were each handed Australia's cuddly² mascot³ for a photo-op Saturday.

 

All heads of state at the summit, from the 'leader of the free world' President Obama to the 'Iron Chancellor⁴' Angela Merkel, proved powerless against the charms of the ridiculously photogenic animals.

 

Even the usually stone-faced Valdimir Putin, the summit's bete noire, was pictured cracking a rare smile while embracing an adorable marsupial⁵, who appeared to be trying to escape the Russian president's iron grip.

 

President Obama was equally overjoyed to spend some quality time with a koala named 'Jimbelung.'

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