(ANSA) - Rome, January 23 - Beppe Grillo, the leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), has created controversy with comments on United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I'm quite optimistic, he seems moderate," Grillo told French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche referring to Trump.

When asked about Putin, Grillo said: "in foreign policy he is the one who says the most sensible things". The comedian-turned-politician said, however, that other comments had been mistranslated after Le Journal du Dimanche quoted him as saying that international politics needed strong men like Trump and Putin. On his blog on Monday, Grillo said what he actually said was: "international politics needs strong statesmen like them. I consider this an advantage for humanity".

