Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin responded to criticism from U.S. senator John McCain, who last week warned Putin of an Arab Spring, approaching to Russia in the wake of mass protests against allegedly rigged polls.
Asked what he thinks about McCain's statement, Putin said that it was directed against Russia but not him personally, RIA Novosti reported.
"Some people want to move Russia aside so it does not interfere in the ruling of the world," Putin said during his Q&A session, referring to Western countries that are "afraid of Russia's nuclear potential."
"It is not a secret that McCain took part in the U.S.-Vietnamese war...he's got enough blood of peaceful civilians on his hands. He probably...can not live without these disgusting scenes of Gaddafi's murder [Libyan late leader Muammar Gaddafi] when all the world's channels broadcast how he was killed."
Putin said he did not like "democracy" that shows how Gaddafi got murdered.
On December 6, two days after allegedly flawed parliamentary elections, McCain wrote on his Twitter account: "Dear Vlad (Vladimir Putin), The ArabSpring is coming to a neighborhood near you."
"It's well know that Mr McCain was captured in Vietnam and was locked not just in prison but in a hole, where he was imprisoned for several years. Any person would have bats in the belfry after that," Putin said.