ussian President Vladimir Putin lifts the shirt of a young boy named Nikita and kisses his stomach June 28 at the Kremlin in Moscow, in this image taken from Russian state television. [AFP]. Vladimir Putin's decision to stop a small boy outside the Kremlin and kiss his stomach was prompted by a desire to "touch him like a kitten," the Russian president said. The 5-year-old boy, named Nikita Konkin, was clearly stunned by the kiss and speculation over Putin's motivation has run wild in the week since it happened. Curious Internet users propelled the issue to the top of a list of questions put to Putin in an interactive Webcast. "People came up and I began talking to them, among them this little boy. He seemed to me very independent, sure of himself and at the same time defenseless so to speak, an innocent boy and a very nice little boy," Putin said. "I tell you honestly, I just wanted to touch him like a kitten and that desire of mine ended in that act." The Izvestia daily, which tracked down Nikita, discovered that he had refused to wash after that kiss. Nikita's grandmother said that his grandson began to act like an adult without much talking sometimes when he knew the adult was the president. The boy refused to take bath unless the weather was too hot. He used a towel to protect his stomach from water in order to keep the precious kiss. "I just liked him and he liked me very much. I want to be president myself," the 5-year-old said   (Agencies)

據俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾·普京本人解釋，他在克里姆林宮外停下來親吻一個小男孩的肚皮是因為他想“像撫摸小貓一樣摸摸他”。 這個名叫尼基塔·肯金的5歲小男孩顯然是被這突如其來的一吻給嚇到了，而對于總統先生親吻“動機”的各種猜測也在一時間成為熱門話題。 在普京總統與網民進行的一次在線問答中，讓網民倍感好奇的“親肚皮”事件成為被問得最多的問題。 普京說：“人們向我走來，我開始和他們交談，這個小男孩就在其中。在我看來，他非常獨立、自信，而且，對人沒什么防備，換句話說，他非常天真，是個很可愛的小男孩。” “說實話，當時我只是想像摸一只小貓那樣的摸摸他，出于這種想法，我就做了那樣一個動作。” 俄羅斯《消息報》找到了尼基塔，發現他自從被吻后就一直拒絕洗澡。 尼基塔的祖母說，自從尼基塔知道親他的那個大人是總統后，他的行為舉止開始像個大人了，有時還不怎么說話。尼基塔一直不愿意洗澡，除非天氣太熱。為了留住這個珍貴的吻，他在洗澡時還用一塊毛巾把肚子護住。 這個5歲的小男孩說：“我喜歡總統，他也很喜歡我。我以后也想當總統。” (英語點津姍姍編輯)