by Sepka » Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:24 pm
<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5155448.stm">news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5155448.stm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>It was apparently the most popular question on the 'ask Putin' webcast.<br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his controversial kissing of a boy on the stomach was just a spontaneous gesture of affection.<br><br>Mr Putin came across Nikita, five, in the Kremlin last week, lifted up his T-shirt and suddenly kissed him.<br><br>"He seemed very independent and serious... I wanted to cuddle him like a kitten and it came out in this gesture. He seemed so nice," he said.<br><br>The kiss - shown on Russian television - triggered huge public interest.<br><br>"There is nothing behind it", Mr Putin told the BBC in a live webcast on Thursday, explaining that the encounter on 28 June was quite spontaneous.<br><br>Nikita was among a group of tourists visiting the Kremlin.<br><br>The kiss triggered intense speculation in the Russian and foreign media, with questions being raised about the president's motivation.<br><br>More than 11,000 people asked Mr Putin to explain what prompted his act during the webcast organised by the BBC and Russia's Yandex website.<br><br>Russia's Izvestia newspaper, which later found Nikita, reported that he had refused to wash after the kiss.<br><br>"I just liked him [Mr Putin] and he liked me very much. I want to be president myself," the boy was quoted by the daily as saying.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>-Sepka the Space Weasel <p></p><i></i>
