Russian President Vladimir Putin insists he has never met with U.S. President Donald Trump and wondered if the American media has “lost its senses.”
Putin was interviewed last week by NBC’s Megyn Kelly. Parts of their talk were broadcast Sunday night.
When asked if he had anything damaging on Trump, Putin called it “another load of nonsense.”
The president said hundreds of American business executives come to Moscow every year and that he rarely sees any of them, including Trump, who was a business magnate before entering politics.
Putin also denied any contacts with fired national security advisor Michael Flynn.
There is a widely-seen photograph of Flynn and Putin sitting at the same banquet table in Moscow in 2015 when the retired Army general was a Trump advisor.
Putin was at the dinner to give a speech. He told Kelly he barely spoke to Flynn and was only told later who Flynn was.
Trump fired Flynn for failing to disclose that he had met with Russian officials.
The Russian president again denied Kremlin interference in the U.S. election by hacking Democratic Party emails.
He said hackers can be anywhere and can skillfully shift the blame to Russia.
Putin said it makes no sense for Russia to interfere, because he says no matter who is president, the Russians know what to expect from a U.S. leader.
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