Kremlin plays down Putin joke

The Kremlin said yesterday President Vladimir Putin was joking and not condoning rape when he commented about the virility of Israeli President Moshev Katsav, whom police suspect of raping female employees. Unaware a microphone was switched on during...

The Kremlin said yesterday President Vladimir Putin was joking and not condoning rape when he commented about the virility of Israeli President Moshev Katsav, whom police suspect of raping female employees.

Unaware a microphone was switched on during talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Mr Putin called Mr Katsav a "mighty guy" and said: "Raped 10 women! I would never have expected that from him. He surprised us all. We all envy him."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Mr Putin had made the comments on Wednesday and said Russian humour did not always travel well across linguistic borders.

"It was a joke which did not have anything to do with the official part of the talks... (and) was not addressed to journalists," Mr Peskov told reporters.

"These words should in no way be interpreted as President Putin approving the possibility of this sort of crime. He takes a very negative view of that sort of crime," said Mr Peskov.

"It is not always possible to translate a Russian joke into another language in such a way that you convey its complete meaning."

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