The Volkswagen Beetle wedding car, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin at Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl’s wedding, has been sold for charity, the Austrian top diplomat said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper, published on Sunday.

"At the end of the year, we hold a traditional TV marathon - the Licht ins Dunkel auction. And we sold our retro Volkswagen Beetle wedding car there," she said. "It didn’t belong to us, we got it just for our wedding, and on the day of the wedding we told our guests that we want to sell it for charity purposes."

The Austrian top diplomat stressed that she understood that Putin’s invitation to the wedding would attract the attention of the media. "When I found out that he agreed, it was clear to me that there would be a media reaction. However, Vladimir Putin, charming as ever, shared our happy day with us," Kneissl noted.

On August 18, 2018, the Russian leader attended Kneissl’s wedding in Austria. Before leaving the celebrations, Putin signed the wedding car of the newlyweds and shouted "gorko," following a Russian wedding tradition. The word "gorko" literally means "bitter." By shouting "gorko" at a Russian wedding guests are saying that the drinks are bitter and the couple needs to start kissing to sweeten the drinks.