Russian President 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 American broadcaster NBC News, Putin also suggested that some of the 13 Russian nationals indicted by the United States may not be ethnically Russian.
"Maybe they are not even Russians, but Ukrainians, Tatars or Jews, but with Russian citizenship, which should also be checked," he said.
Putin responded brusquely when interviewer Megyn Kelly asked if he condoned the interference that was alleged in last month's US indictment by special counsel Robert Mueller, reports News.com.au.
"It's all the same to me. To me it absolutely makes no difference because they do not represent the government," Putin answered, according to the Russian-language interview transcript posted by the Kremlin.