Putin dismisses US meddling claim as a ‘load of nonsense’

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin testily rejected the idea his government had interfered in the 2016 US election – or that he was holding compromising evidence against US President Donald Trump – in an interview broadcast on Sunday night with NBC’s Megyn Kelly.

“They have been misled,” Putin responded when Kelly said American intelligence agencies had concluded that Russia interfered in the campaign with the goal of electing Trump. “They aren’t analysing the information in its entirety. I haven’t seen any direct proof of Russian interference in the presidential election.”

The interview with Putin – conducted last week during an economic forum in St Petersburg – was tense at times, with the Russian calling Kelly’s questions a “load of nonsense”.

“Your lives must be so boring”, if Americans are reduced to making up stories about Russia, he said.

Kelly asked about an episode in which Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, suggested setting up a secret back-channel with the Kremlin before Trump took office.

“I don’t know about this proposal,” Putin said. He added such a request would have been reported to him.

“You created a sensation out of nothing, you turned it into a weapon of war against the president.”

Putin also rejected the idea that he had any relationship with Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser. In 2015, Flynn visited Moscow for a banquet honouring Russian TV outlet RT, and photos show him seated next to Putin.

Putin said he had not sat in the seat for much of the dinner, and that he barely spoke to Flynn. “I didn’t even really talk to him,” he said.