Obama: I would 'absolutely' save Putin from drowning

WASHINGTON, April 25 (UPI) -- Good news for Vladimir Putin: If he were ever drowning, and Barack Obama was nearby, Obama would save him.

During an interview earlier this month, the Russian president was asked if he thought he could trust his American counterpart in the event of such an emergency.

"Besides intergovernmental relationships, there are personal relationships," Putin said. "I am not saying we have some special relationships with the president of the U.S. but I think he is a decent and quite courageous person. I think he would do it."

Turns out he was right: Obama told reporters in South Korea Friday he would come to Putin's rescue.

"First of all, I absolutely would save Mr. Putin if he were drowning," Obama said. "I’d like to think that if anybody is out there drowning I’m going to save them."

"I used to be a pretty good swimmer -- I grew up in Hawaii," he explained, perhaps positioning for a job as a lifeguard once he leaves the White House.

Still, he cautioned: I'm "a little out of practice."

So no matter how bad the situation is getting between Russia and the U.S., at least their leaders would still go this far for each other.