Humans can be very naive. It could be as simple as Putin got in contact and said “I know you never said anything bad against me. You know. We’ve been through a lot. Why don’t you come back to Moscow in secret, and we can work out a better deal where we can still play Grand Theft Auto and no one has to know its you”

Alternatively, Putin threatened someone he cared about. “Get back here or Mr snuggles gets it”