Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with the European Union’s two presidents, but an awkward moment when the woman among them was left standing caused a bit of a diplomatic stir, writes The Washington Post.

A video of the leaders assembled in an ornate meeting room in Ankara showed Erdogan and European Council President Charles Michel settling themselves into gilded chairs, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appeared unsure of where she was expected to sit.

Von der Leyen stood staring at them, gestured with her right hand and appeared to say “um” or “ehm.”

She was ultimately offered a beige couch about 12 feet away, opposite Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who occupies a lower-status rank in typical diplomatic protocol.

Von der Leyen “was clearly surprised and that is something which you can see from the video”, - her spokesman Eric Mamer said Wednesday, confirming the displeasure of the leader who is the first woman to hold her role. She “should have been seated in exactly the same manner as the president of the European Council and the Turkish president”.