OTTAWA - From Russia with love for Canada, democratic opposition leader Boris Nemtsov denies his country needs to see Canada as a rival in the Arctic.

"I think this is absolutely an artificial problem," Nemtsov said in an interview with Sun News Network. "This is like a problem, which is generated in the Kremlin to show that we protect Russian interests, not because they have, for example, the opportunity to produce oil and gas in the Arctic or something like that."

Nemtsov says Putin uses espionage to change his image, which has been tarnished by corruption, and present himself as "a father who protects Russia from American imperialism."

"Canada is one part of this game -- not a main part fortunately, but one of the parts," Nemtsov said. "(Putin's) main political idea and main trend is to be a fighter against the West."