He told them gay people can "feel calm, at ease, but leave children in peace, please," Russian agencies reported.

He added: "We do not have a ban on non-traditional sexual relationships.

"We have a ban on the propaganda of homosexuality and paedophilia.

"I want to underline this.

"Propaganda among children.

"These are absolutely different things - a ban on something or a ban on the propaganda of that thing.

"We are not forbidding anything and nobody is being grabbed off the street, and there is no punishment for such kinds of relations."

"Feel calm, at ease, but leave children in peace, please" - Vladimir Putin's words today as he met volunteers for next month's Winter Olympics ©AFP/Getty Images



His comments come just days after it was announced the location of a protest zone during the Games will be 18 kilometres from the Olympic Park, in the town of Khosta.

Putin had initially said all political protests would be banned as part of a security crackdown.

"At the park in Khosta, people can freely express their opinion [there], while not breaching the rights of other citizens or the Olympic Charter," Russia's deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told R-Sport.

Yesterday, Finland's Minister for Sport and Culture, Paavo Arhinmäki, announced he is boycotting the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics because of concerns over Russia's human rights record.

He told Finnish TV station YLE: "As a politician... one must not support violations of human rights, limitations in the freedom of speech or repressing of sexual minorities."


Vladimir Putin's anti-gay propaganda law introduced last year has led to demonstrations around the world, including this one in Antwerp, but the Russian President remains defiant ©AFP/Getty Images

Earlier this week, Arhinmäki's counterpart in neighbouring Sweden, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, also announced she would not be attending the Opening Ceremony.

United States President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, German President Joachim Gauck, French leader François Hollande and the heads of Canada, Belgium, Lithuania, Moldova and Georgia have all indicated they will not be at Sochi 2014.

The official US delegation in Sochi will be led by openly gay athletes: former tennis player Billie Jean King, Caitlin Cahow, a two-time Olympic ice hockey medallist, and ex-Olympic skating champion Brian Boitano.

After the meeting with volunteers today, Putin said: "We very much hope that you, the volunteers, will create the unique atmosphere for the Games.

"It is on your ability to create this atmosphere that the mood of the Olympic guests and competitors will depend on.

"And this is one of the most important things in the Olympic programme."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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