MOSCOW - Reveling in his reputation for earthy language, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin unabashedly confirmed a crude outburst against Georgia’s president and even took the tirade a step further yesterday.

The French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur reported last month that Putin told French President Nicolas Sarkozy that he would hang Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili by the testicles. The remark came during the August war between Russia and Georgia.