ALEX Salmond has come under a bombardment of criticism at Holyrood for praising "certain aspects" of Russian president Vladimir Putin's leadership.
The First Minister rejected repeated calls to apologise as Labour, the Conservatives and Lib Dems joined forces to condemn his remarks.
As the bitter row entered its fourth day, Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont claimed Scotland's reputation had been damaged by the First Minister's "ill-judged" comments and his subsequent refusal to withdraw them.
Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, said he could not be trusted to represent Scotland on the world stage, while Scots Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie claimed Mr Salmond's views made him "look small".
But in a stormy First Minister's Questions Mr defended his comments and, referring to the cross-party alliance in favour of a No vote in September's independence referendum, dismissed the attacks as part of a "combined Better Together political opportunity".
The First Minister has endured a week of sustained criticism after he praised Mr Putin for restoring "a substantial amount of Russian pride" in an interview with GQ magazine which was conducted as Russia was on the brink of annexing Ukraine's Crimea region.
While stressing he did "not approve of a range of Russian actions" in the interview he described Mr Putin as "effective" and said: "You can see why he carries support in Russia."
His comments have been condemned by Amnesty International and the organisation representing Scotland's Ukrainian community.
Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secrretary William Hague have also condemned the comments.
The First Minister hit back yesterday, saying his comments about Russian pride referred to the Sochi Winter Olympics.
He also said the Scottish Government had condemned Russia's actions in Crimea and raised human rights abuses with foreign diplomats.
In an attempt to turn the tables on his accusers, he called on Ms Lamont to apologise for the Better Together campaign, which includes Scottish Labour, accepting a £500,000 donation from Ian Taylor, the head of oil trader Vitol, a company with business dealings with Russia's state owned energy giant Rosneft.
The United States has imposed sanctions on Rosneft's chief executive, Igor Sechin, in response to Russia's intervention in Ukraine.
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