President Vladimir Putin has said that Prince Charles' comments about him were "not royal". The prince's comments comparing Mr Putin's actions in Crimea to those of the Nazis in World War II have caused a lot of controversy. The prince likened Putin's annexing of Crimea to the actions of Hitler. Mr Putin told reporters on Saturday that he had not heard the exact words Prince Charles supposedly used. He said: "This is definitely unacceptable if this is true." He added: "I know him and members of the royal family personally and this was not royal behaviour."

Mr Putin said Prince Charles' alleged comments would not damage Russian-British relations. He told the media that both he and Britain were "guided by national interests rather than some other considerations". He added: "All this will pass quite quickly and we'll continue to co-operate as we have done before". Mr Putin and Prince Charles will meet at a D-Day anniversary in France next month. The potentially awkward meeting will probably go smoothly. They will both follow the rules of diplomatic behaviour. Britain's leader David Cameron said the prince was expressing his opinions.