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  Putin's emotions came boiling to the surface during a three-hour Kremlin news conference, during which he took questions from 51 journalists, pausing occasionally to sip tea from a blue-and-white china cup.

Putin was asked for a reaction to an interview in which Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said: "For every superpower, Russia without Ukraine is better than Russia with Ukraine."

"If we interpret this (statement by Kwasniewski) as striving to limit Russia's ability to develop relations with its neighbours, then it means a desire to isolate the Russian Federation," Putin said testily.

"I don't think that is the goal of U.S. policy," he said but added he would ask President George W. Bush about it in February when they meet in Slovakia. Putin then blamed the United States for a policy on Chechnya "aimed at creating elements that would destabilize the Russian Federation."

The comments were in line with Putin's increasingly combative attitude toward the West and especially the United States. The Kremlin is convinced the United States is behind a campaign to install Ukraine's pro-western opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko at the helm of the country. Putin has backed Yushchenko's opponent, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

Bush Insistent Re Runoff

Putin has long been used to reticence from Bush but even if the U.S. president has refrained from direct criticism of Kremlin policies at home until now, he has challenged Moscow over its involvement in the Ukrainian presidential campaign and stood firm on insisting the runoff election be held again.

Analysts close to the Kremlin have accused Poland of working in Ukraine at the behest of the United States, which they allege is trying to deepen its influence in Europe and push Poland to the top ranks of the European Union.

Kwasniewski said in Warsaw on Thursday that Putin's remarks were unfair.

"The words said today by Putin, in my opinion, are unfair words, a price that Poland and I must pay for our involvement in solving the political crisis in Ukraine," Kwasniewski said.

"In the interview, I said that Poland and the world need Russia to be present in solving the crisis in the Ukraine and that a democratic Russia and democratic Ukraine will serve the world in the best way," he said.

Putin said his personal relationship with Bush remains strong but he has bristled at U.S. criticism of the Kremlin's political restructuring proposals, which include an end to direct elections for governors.

"I don't think we should move toward an authoritarian state, especially a Soviet-style authoritarian state," Putin said.

"That wouldn't help create favourable conditions for economic development and would limit the society's ability to control the government. That would be excessive," he said.

In turn, Putin criticized the plan for Iraqi elections, which he said could not be fair while there is a U.S.-led military presence in the country.

"I have strong doubts that it's possible to create conditions for democratic elections (in Iraq) when its entire territory is occupied by foreign troops," he said, also criticizing the United States for saying Chechnya isn't ready for elections.

Putin rubbed his finger on the desk to illustrate his angry discourse on Afghan elections, saying voters' fingerprints are a weak guarantee against fraud.

He criticized the 2004 U.S. presidential election, saying: "We are also not ecstatic about what's going on in the United States."

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