Russia's President Vladimir Putin explains to the BBC why he kissed a young boy on the stomach the other day.
From the Beeb:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his controversial kissing of a boy on the stomach was just a spontaneous gesture of affection.
Mr Putin described the boy as "very sweet"
Mr Putin came across Nikita, five, in the Kremlin last week, lifted up his T-shirt and suddenly kissed him.
"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.
The kiss - shown on Russian television - triggered huge public interest.
"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.
Nikita was among a group of tourists visiting the Kremlin.
I can only presume Mr. Putin is trying to soften the image he's built up as a cold-eyed, iron-willed authoritarian judo-meister who likes to use verbs like "crush" when referring to terrorists.
And what better way to do it that publicly licking a little boy's belly?