London, Sept. 12 : Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said that his country had no choice but to attack Georgia after it was encircled from all sides.

Speaking to reporters at his vacation home in Sochi, Putin rejected claims that he wanted to restore the Soviet empire and insisted that a fresh arms race in Europe was avoidable.

He said that his immediate concern was to defend his country''s much-criticised action in Georgia.

Moscow, Sept. 12 : U. S. President George W Bush, according to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, no longer runs America.

In a tongue in cheek reference to Bush in the wake of the recent standoff between the two countries on the conflict in Georgia, Putin was quoted by the Times as saying that it is: “The court that makes the king”.

Putin, however, insisted that Bush was a man of honour and integrity, but blamed members of his administration for the sharp deterioration of relations with Russia.

London, Sep. 1: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has warned Europe that his country’s energy reserves will flow to the Far East if European leaders seek to punish Moscow for invading Georgia.

Putin, who was speaking from Siberia, where he is inspecting work on a new pipeline that aims to speed up oil supply to Asia, said that Moscow would not succumb to threats from Europe.

London, September 1 : Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been hailed as a hero after preventing a TV crew from being killed by a tiger at the Ussuri reserve in Siberia.

The former President visited the reserve to observe researchers monitored the tigers in the wild.

When he saw a trapped beast escape and charge towards a nearby camera crew, Putin quickly shot the beast and sedated it with a tranquillizer gun.

Moscow, Aug 29: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said that the Georgia conflict may have been orchestrated by US President George Bush in a bid to get his party’s presidential nominee John McCain win this November election.

Though Putin did not specify which candidate he was talking about, but there was no doubt that he was referring to Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential dandidate, reported the New York Times.