MOSCOW - Not everyone gets to be called a "real man" by Vladimir Putin himself.

But Russia's tough-guy prime minister awarded that honor to Hollywood heart-throb Leonardo DiCaprio, whose plane caught fire on the way to a summit on tigers in Putin's native city Saint Petersburg.

"I would like to thank you for coming despite all the obstacles," Putin told a smiling DiCaprio, who also pledged $1 million to the tiger cause. DiCaprio has already helped the World Wildlife Fund raise $20 million for tiger conservation earlier this year, it said.

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"A person with less-stable nerves could have decided against coming, could have read it as a sign, that it was not worth going," Putin said.

The Russian prime minister said the Titanic star had "literally tore his way through to Saint Petersburg", calling DiCaprio "a real man" (or "muzhik") for his persistence.

"If wildlife and tiger conservation is in the hands of people with such character, we are destined to succeed," he said.

He then asked DiCaprio if he spoke any Russian - to which the Hollywood star replied no.

But DiCaprio revealed that two of his late grandparents were Russian, and that he had always wanted to bring his grandmother to Saint Petersburg.

DiCaprio was among the passengers on a Delta Airline jet that was forced to make an emergency landing in New York on Monday after losing an engine.

His second plane faced strong headwinds and was required to make an unscheduled refuelling stop in Helsinki, Putin told the audience.

Putin has carefully cultivated a tough-guy image throughout his political career, using strong language in speeches and practicing judo and even co-piloting fighter jets in front of the television cameras.

His latest stunt came earlier this month, when Putin burned rubber on a racing circuit in a Formula One car.

Agence France-Presse - Associated Press