President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia would not legalise gay marriage as long as he was in the Kremlin. He made clear he would not allow the traditional notion of mother and father to be subverted by what he called "parent number 1" and "parent number 2".

"As far as 'parent number 1' and 'parent number 2' goes, I've already spoken publicly about this and I'll repeat it again: as long as I'm president this will not happen. There will be dad and mum," Putin said.

During his two decades in power, Putin has closely aligned himself with the Orthodox Church and sought to distance Russia from liberal Western values, including attitudes towards homosexuality and gender fluidity. He made the comments as he met a state commission to discuss changes to Russia's constitution.

The commission was set up last month after Putin announced sweeping changes to Russia's political system that are widely seen as being designed to help him extend his grip on power after his scheduled departure from office in 2024. Read more via Reuters