Ukraine Crisis: Vladimir Putin Calls Hillary Clinton 'Weak' in Interview

Russian President Vladimir Putin has implied that former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is "weak" in an interview.

The Russian leader added that the potential candidate for US President "has never been too graceful in her statements".

Putin's comments came in an interview with France's Radio Europe1 after Clinton compared his actions in the Ukraine crisis to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's in Europe before World War II.

"It's better not to argue with women," Putin said of Clinton.

"But Ms. Clinton has never been too graceful in her statements. Still, we always met afterwards and had cordial conversations at various international events. I think even in this case we could reach an agreement.

"When people push boundaries too far, it's not because they are strong but because they are weak. But maybe weakness is not the worst quality for a woman," he added.

Clinton made the remarks at a private fundraiser in March where she said Putin's attempts to give Russian passports to those with Russian roots outside of the country was comparable to Hitler's protection of ethnic Germans before World War II.

"Now if this sounds familiar, it's what Hitler did back in the '30s," said Clinton.

She defended her comments by saying that Putin was indeed attempting to "re-Sovietise Russia's periphery" and called him "a tough guy with a thin skin".

Speaking of US actions abroad in the interview, the former KGB agent said: "it's clear that the United States is pursuing the most aggressive and toughest policy to defend their own interests."

"There are basically no Russian troops abroad while US troops are everywhere.

"There are US military bases everywhere around the world and they are always involved in the fates of other countries even though they are thousands of kilometres away from U.S. borders," he added.

"So it is ironic that our U.S. partners accuse us of breaching some of these rules."

Hillary Clinton's spokesman did not reply to a request to comment on Putin's latest comments.