MOSCOW, July 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he had been driven by emotions when he kissed a boy on the stomach in the Kremlin last week.

Television footage of Putin talking to a boy and then suddenly pulling up his T-shirt and kissing the belly on June 28 caused excited discussions on the Internet.

"He seemed completely self-contained and serious, and at the same children are always helpless. He was a very nice boy and I just wanted to pat him like a kitten," the president said.