President Clinton parried questions from Russian radio listeners yesterday about family, money matters and other personal issues, and defended his strategy towards Moscow during his seven years in power.
In a live interview with Ekho Moskvy radio, a relaxed and cheerful Mr Clinton also told Russians he did not regard their country as a Third World nation despite its deep economic woes.
"I have always tried to help support a free, prosperous, strong Russia which is fully integrated into international institutions," he told radio listeners after six hours of talks in the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin.
"I have been here five times (as president). No American president has been here five times . . . I am extremely positively disposed towards the people of Russia," Mr Clinton said in comments also broadcast live by NTV commercial television.
The three-day trip to Moscow was almost certainly Mr Clinton's last before he stands down as president next January.
Clearly keen to soothe a sense of bitter self-pity felt by some Russians about their country's economic decline, Mr Clinton dismissed one questioner's suggestion that Russia was a developing country on a par with states in Africa.
"No, Russia was badly hurt by economic crisis and by problems of transition from a command to a market economy.
"But it is a country with a vast and impressive array of scientific and technological achievements," he said.
However, many questioners were more interested in his family life and other personal details.
Asked what was the most important thing in his life, Clinton replied: "My family." He laughed off a question about whether his wife Hillary might one day become president, meaning he would have to move back into the White House.
But he added that he fully supported her campaign to run for the US Senate in New York State.
He confided that he had never driven a tank, though he had been in one, and, unlike Mr Putin, had never ridden in a submarine.
Asked when he had last touched money, Mr Clinton said: "About an hour ago . . . I didn't buy anything but I am going for dinner after meeting with you and I brought my money with me."
Later, Mr Clinton dined with the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, at an elegant but pricey restaurant in central Moscow.
Asked about how he made his first dime, Mr Clinton said he used to mow lawns and cut hedges when he was a child, adding that he had done more than 20 different jobs in his life.
Mr Clinton did not escape more serious political issues during the 30-minute interview, which drew some 5,000 questions from ordinary Russians by telephone, e-mail and pager.
He said only freedom of the press could guarantee political stability and urged Russians worried about democratic freedoms in their own country to study US history for guidance.
"If you think it's not free enough here, then I would urge you to look at the example of America, to read the 200-year history of our country," he said.
Some liberals in Russia have expressed concern that Mr Putin, a former KGB spy elected in March, might clamp down on civil and media liberties.
Ekho Moskvy is part of the independent media empire of Media-Most, whose offices were recently raided by masked police who said they were investigating violations of the law.
Asked about Russia's popular Kukly political satire show which uses life-size puppets, Mr Clinton said he would like to watch it, adding it was healthy to laugh at politicians.
"It does not bother me. I have been lampooned in America a lot. There is almost nothing anybody can say to make fun of me that has not been said already," he said.
Patriarch Alexiy II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, was quoted as saying yesterday he did not rule out a meeting with Pope John Paul II.
The Russian Church has played down rumours at the Vatican that a visit to Italy by Mr Putin today could pave the way for a meeting between the two church leaders.
"I believe that our meeting should not simply take place in front of television cameras. It should be well prepared," ItarTass quoted the Patriarch as saying.
"It should have a concrete, positive result. We suggested back in 1997 that we would sign a declaration at such a meeting, in which we would discuss factors influencing our relations," he said.