Moscow — Vladimir Putin says he doesn't care about alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election because the actions weren't connected to his government.
In an interview with the US TV network NBC, the Russian president was asked if he condoned the interference by 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies detailed in a US indictment.
"I do not care at all, because they do not represent the government," he said, according to the interview transcript posted Saturday by the Kremlin.
In the sometimes combative interview, Putin denied the charge by US intelligence services that he ordered meddling in the November 2016 vote, claiming any interference was not connected to the Kremlin. Picture: Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
"Maybe they are not even Russians but Ukrainians, Tatars or Jews but with Russian citizenship, which should also be checked; maybe they have dual citizenship of a green card; maybe the US paid them for this. How can you know that? I do not know either," he said.