After his meeting this month with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Germany, President Donald Trump met informally with the Russian leader later the same day.

The second meeting took place at a dinner for G-20 leaders, a senior administration official said. Halfway through the meal, Trump left his own seat to occupy a chair next to Putin. Trump was alone, and Putin was attended only by his official interpreter.

The encounter underscores the extent to which Trump was eager throughout the summit to cultivate a friendship with Putin. During last year’s campaign, Trump spoke admiringly of Putin and at times seemed captivated by him.

Meeting for the first time, the two presidents seemed to have a chemistry in their more formal bilateral session, evidenced by the fact that it dragged on for more than two hours.

Trump’s newly-disclosed hourlong conversation with Putin at the G-20 dinner is likely to stoke further criticism that he is too cozy with the leader of a major U.S. adversary.

The only version of the conversation provided to White House aides was given by Trump himself, the official said. Reporters traveling with the White House were not informed.

The administration official spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm the session, first reported Monday by Ian Bremmer, president of the New York-based Eurasia Group, in a newsletter to group clients.

Bremmer said in a telephone interview that he was told by two participants who witnessed it at the dinner, which was attended only by leaders attending the summit and spouses.

Leaders who reported the meeting to him, Bremmer said, were “bemused, nonplussed, befuddled” by the animated conversation, held in full view but not listening distance of others.

Putin’s aide provided the only Russian-English interpretation, the official said, because Trump’s designated dinner companion was Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the president has brought only a Japanese-English interpreter.