During an interview with NBC’s Megyn Kelly that aired Sunday night, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied that Russia meddled in the 2016 election in the United States and claimed to be unaware of any interactions Russian officials had with members of Trump’s campaign.
Putin told Kelly that he has “no idea” if Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the U.S., met with any members of Trump’s team before inauguration.
“Do you think that from all over the world or from the United States the ambassador reports to me every day who he meets with or what they discuss there? That’s complete nonsense,” he said.
Asked if Jared Kushner tried to set up a secret line of communication between the Trump transition team and Russia, Putin said “no proposal like that came to me.”
And when asked about the 2015 dinner in Moscow during which he sat next to Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, Putin claimed that he did not know who Flynn was until after the dinner.
“I didn’t even really talk to him,” Putin told Kelly.
The Russian leader also denied that Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 election in the U.S. and suggested that U.S. intelligence services could have fabricated Russian interference.
“There’s a theory that Kennedy’s assassination was arranged by the United State intelligence services,” he said. “So, if this theory is correct and that can’t be ruled out, then what could be easier, in this day and age, than using all the technical means at the disposal of the intelligence services, and using those means to organize some attacks and then pointing the finger at Russia?”
When asked if he had damaging information on Trump, Putin dismissed the question as “just another load of nonsense.”
“Where would we get this information from? Why, did we have some special relationship with him?” Putin asked.
“There was a time when he used to come to Moscow,” he continued. “But you know, I never met with him. We have a lot of Americans who visit us.”
