Putin warns Russian opposition against 'unacceptable" activity in TV phone-in

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned protesters not to get involved with “unacceptable” activities but shrugged off demonstrations that claim that results of 4 December’s general election were rigged.

照片来源：路透社REUTERS/Alexei Nikolsky/RIA Novosti/Pool

"I saw on television mostly young, active people clearly expressing their position," Putin said on an annual phone-in TV broadcast. "I am pleased to see this and if this is the result of the Putin regime, then this is good. I see nothing extraordinary about it."

Putin mocked the white ribbon worn by participants in post-poll protests, saying he thought it was a condom transformed into a symbol of Aids-awareness and hinted that they were paid to attend.

"I know that students were paid some money. Well, that's good if they could earn something," he said.

Last week he accused US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of egging on the Russian opposition.

Putin declared the election’s outcome “unquestionably reflects the real political make-up of the country” and warned his opponents, "Allowing yourself to get sucked into any kind of scheme to destabilise society is incorrect and unacceptable."

But Putin did say he would ask election officials to install CCTV cameras in all 90,000 polling stations in the country and post the footage on the internet “so the whole country can see".

Putin took a tough line on foreign policy,  accusing US drones and special forces of involvement in the killing of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and accusing US Senator John McCain, a regular Kremlin criti, of having "enough blood of peaceful citizens on his hands".

Current President Dmitry Medvedev, who is to step aside in favour of Putin in next March's presidential election, was not mentioned during the broadcast.

In his last meeting with EU leaders in Brussels Thursday, Medvedev said that Russia is "ready to invest" in a rescue of the eurozone managed by the International Monetary Fund.