Putin responds to Obama’s criticism

MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the U.S. president is wrong to suggest he remains mired in a Cold War mindset.

President Barack Obama told The Associated Press on Thursday that he thinks Russian President Dmitry Medvedev understands the need to move away from Cold War-style confrontation, but that “Putin has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new.”

Putin responded Friday in characteristically colorful language.

State news agencies quote him saying that Russians don’t know how to stand so awkwardly with their legs apart. Instead, Putin says they “stand solidly on their own two feet and always look into the future.”

Putin’s spokesman says he’s confident Obama’s view of the prime minister will change after they meet for the first time next week.