Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday described the probe by United Sates' Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Moscow's alleged election meddling in the U.S. as "political games" that should not be permitted to interfere with relations between the two countries.
Asked in a Fox News interview about Mr. Mueller's indictment on Friday of 12 Russian intelligence agents for hacking Democratic Party computers in 2016, just three days before his summit with President Donald Trump, Mr. Putin said it was not his concern, but rather part of an "internal political struggle."
"I'm not interested in this issue a single bit," he said, speaking through a translator. "It's the internal political games of the United States."
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He said, "Don't make the relationship between Russia and the United States, don't hold it hostage of this internal political struggle."
Mr. Putin was speaking shortly after his summit with Mr. Trump in Helsinki, Finland, where the question of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race loomed large.
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Response echoes Trump's stance
His response echoed Mr. Trump's stance on the Mueller probe, which is digging into possible collusion between Mr. Trump's campaign and Moscow.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly branded the Mueller probe a "witch-hunt".
And in a press conference on Monday with Mr. Putin at his side, Mr. Trump dismissed his own intelligence chiefs' conclusion that Mr. Putin himself oversaw the effort to damage Mr. Trump's Democratic election rival Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Putin suggested on Monday, like Mr. Trump has done repeatedly, that Mr. Mueller's appointment as an independent prosecutor to pursue the investigation lacks legitimacy.
"It's quite clear to me that this is just an internal political struggle and it's nothing to be proud of for American democracy to use such dirty methods and political rivalry," Mr. Putin told Fox .