Vladimir Putin's official spokesman says Abbott 'shirtfront' comment 'very unfortunate'

Updated

Vladimir Putin's official spokesman has described Prime Minister Tony Abbott's comments about "shirtfronting" the Russian leader as "very unfortunate".

In the first direct response from the Kremlin, Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the ABC "we are sorry about these unfortunate statements".

On Monday Mr Abbott vowed to use next month's Brisbane G20 conference to confront the Russian leader over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, saying he would "shirtfront" him - an apparent reference to a head-on physical challenge used by AFL players.

Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev has responded to Mr Abbott's comments, and is warning Australia's PM to "choose his words carefully".

"If he likes to use sports terms, let him go ahead," he told CNBC through a translator.

"Mr Putin is quite adept at sports and they could have forceful debates. That said, serious politicians should choose their words carefully."

On Tuesday Mr Abbott moderated his language, saying only that he would have a "very robust conversation" with Mr Putin.

The Prime Minister said that was "the very least I can do, speaking for Australia's dead and speaking for the families of Australia's dead and indeed speaking for the world's victims".

Mr Putin has yet to officially confirm his attendance at the Brisbane summit, but his spokesman said there was "no obstacle" to the Russian leader taking part "like his counterparts".

"This is an international event and Australia is the host country," Mr Peskov said.

At present the two leaders are not scheduled to meet at the Brisbane G20 summit, being held on November 15-16.

But Mr Putin's spokesman said the Australian and Russian leaders would certainly have the opportunity to exchange their views, "preferably in a more diplomatic way".

Pravda writer compares Abbott to Hitler, Pol Pot

Mr Abbott's comments have prompted another scathing rebuke from Russian newspaper Pravda.

In an email exchange with the ABC's AM program, Pravda journalist Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey said Mr Abbott's comments were "the most blatant example of shit-faced ignorance and pig-headed arrogance the world has seen since the likes of Hitler or Pol Pot".

Bancroft-Hinchey was speaking after penning an editorial for Pravda, in which he wrote of Mr Abbott that: "It is difficult to find a more blatant example of childishness, incompetence for the position, criminal intent, downright nastiness and an indication of a disturbed mind crying out for therapy. Don't the Australian people deserve better?".

Pravda is historically associated with the Russian Communist party and was an official government mouthpiece during the Soviet era.

"While I do not speak for President Putin, if someone 'shirtfronted' me, then I would throw the perpetrator over my shoulder, slam him onto his back on the floor behind me, place my boot on his face and ask 'What was that you were saying?' before I saw him scurry away snivelling to his sisters for a clean pair of Y-fronts," Bancroft-Hinchey wrote.

Treasurer Joe Hockey, speaking in London where he had been holding preparatory meetings for the G20, said he would not get into commentary about the words used by the Prime Minister, but said his comments echoed the "deep-seated anger across the Australian community about what happened to the 38 poor souls who were Australians that died on the Malaysian plane".

"I think the Prime Minister is reflecting the anger and understandable emotion of many Australians about what happened," Mr Hockey said.

Earlier a spokesman from the Russian embassy in Canberra described Mr Abbott's comments as "immature".

Alexander Odoevskiy said the comments were indicative of the fact that "Russian/Australian relations are at [an] historic low".

Thirty-eight Australian citizens and residents were among the 298 passengers and crew killed when MH17 went down on July 17 over territory held by Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Kiev and the West have accused the Moscow-backed separatists of shooting down the jet with a surface-to-air missile supplied by Russia.

Moscow denied the charge and pointed the finger at Kiev.

Mr Peskov said in Russia's view, the investigation into the tragedy "is not active and effective enough".

He said "lots of data" from Ukrainian air traffic control had not been submitted to the investigators.

Russia, he said, insisted that this data was submitted.

Topics: world-politics, unrest-conflict-and-war, russian-federation, australia

First posted