"(Liberals) cannot simply dictate anything to anyone just like they have been attempting to do over the recent decades," he told the newspaper, as populist movements gather support across Europe and in the US.

Putin criticised German Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to allow more than one million refugees into Germany as a "cardinal mistake" and praised US President Donald Trump for his efforts to stop the flow of migrants from Mexico.

"This liberal idea presupposes that nothing needs to be done. That migrants can kill, plunder and rape with impunity because their rights as migrants have to be protected," he said.

"The liberal idea has become obsolete. It has come into conflict with the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population."

The Russian president concluded in the interview that liberal ideology had "outlived its purpose".

Tusk, in Osaka for the G20 gathering of the world's leading economies, took Putin to task for the comments.

"I have to say that I strongly disagree with the main argument that liberalism is obsolete," the EU president said.

"Whoever claims that liberal democracy is obsolete also claims that freedoms are obsolete, that the rule of law is obsolete and that human rights are obsolete," he added.

These are "essential and vibrant values" for Europeans, said Tusk.

"What I find really obsolete are authoritarianism, personality cults, the rule of oligarchs, even if sometimes they may seem effective," said Tusk.

French President Emmanuel Macron also hit back at Putin saying: "I am convinced that, in a world full of uncertainty, liberal democracies still have a lot to offer."

"It's not the only model but it's a model that exists and has its force."

G20 leaders are already expected to clash over trade, foreign policy and climate change.—AFP