Vladimir Putin has said he is not embarrassed of the many topless photos of him on holiday that have been released over the years.
The Russian leader was being interviewed by the Austrian broadcaster ORF ahead of an official visit to the country.
Over the summer, Putin is photographed in some form rugged pose, often fishing, with a gun or on horseback, in pictures widely seen as an attempt to cultivate an image as a man of action.
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Putin is seen riding a horse while traveling in the mountains of the Siberian Tyva region
But he made light of a question about what was the ‘true story’ behind the ‘half naked’ pictures.
‘You said “half-naked” not “naked”, thank God. When I am on vacation I see no need to hide behind the bushes, and there is nothing wrong with that,’ he said.
In the interview, the Russian leader also said he wants to build bridges to Europe.
‘It is not our aim to divide anything or anybody in Europe,’ Putin said.
‘On the contrary, we want to see a united and prosperous European Union, because the European Union is our biggest trade and economic partner.
‘The more problems there are within the European Union, the greater the risks and uncertainties for us.’
Putin with a hunting rifle. The pictures of him holidaying in the wilds of Russia are seen as an attempt to cultivate a macho image
The topless President showing off his catch against the backdrop of the Siberian mountains
The Russian leader was asked about him being regularly photographed topless, in a series of macho poses
Putin replied that he saw ‘no need to hide in the bushes’ while on holiday and was happy with the world seeing him shirtless
In Putin’s first foreign visit since he won a landslide re-election in March, he met Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and President Alexander Van der Bellen.
He also met Heinz-Christian Strache, whose nationalist Freedom Party entered the government in December as the junior coalition partner.
Over the weekend, Strache – whose party has ties with the main Kremlin party, United Russia – called for the EU to lift sanctions against Russia.
Unlike many other EU countries, Austria didn’t expel Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning in Britain earlier this year of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen and Putin review a guard of honor after the Russian leader’s arrival at Hofburg palace
President Putin said lifting sanctions against his nation would be in the benefit of both Russia and the West
Austria will take over the 28-nation EU’s rotating presidency for six months in July.
Putin’s sixth official visit to traditionally neutral Austria marks the 50th anniversary of the start of Soviet gas deliveries to the country.
The United States, the European Union and other Western allies imposed sanctions against Moscow over its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine who are fighting the government.
Coupled with a drop in oil prices, the sanctions contributed to Russia’s two-year recession.
The Russian economy has rebounded, however, and Putin emphasized that lifting the sanctions would answer common interests.