George W. Bush tells intrepid “Today” show interviewer Jenna Bush Hager that Vladimir Putin, upon meeting Barney, told the American president he had a wimpy dog.

Bush has reinvented himself as an artist, and to promote his first exhibition, he shared some anecdotes about the subjects he painted. Among them, former and current Russian President Vladimir Putin:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Bush, who famously said that he gazed into Putin’s eyes and liked what he saw, maintains that he always had a positive relationship with his Russian counterpart. Truthfully, U.S.-Russian relations began their deterioration during the Bush presidency, particularly over NATO expansion, proposed missile defense bases in Poland and Czechoslovakia, and America’s courtship of Georgia and Ukraine. These are all issues, of course, that continue to haunt relations between the two countries.

— Posted by Peter Z. Scheer