18 January 2017•Update: 18 January 2017
ANKARA
Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday vehemently denied allegations his government had compromising information on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
"Look, I am not acquainted with Mr Trump. I have never met him. I do not know what he will do in the international arena, so I have no reason either to attack him or criticise him for whatever reason or to defend him, no matter what," he said during a joint news conference in Moscow with President of Moldova Igor Dodon, according to the Kremlin’s website.
"People who order these kinds of fabrications, which are now being used to smear the US President-elect, and use it to advance their political agenda are worse than prostitutes," Putin said.
Trump last Wednesday similarly lashed out at "shameful and disgraceful" reports Russia has compromising information about him that it could use for blackmail.
"It's all fake news. It's phony stuff. It didn't happen," he said during his first news conference in six months. "It was a group of opponents that got together -- sick people -- and they put that crap together."
CNN and other news organizations reported that the president-elect was presented with documents that showed Moscow had compromising information on him when he was briefed by America's intelligence leaders in early January.
The U.S. intelligence community has unequivocally accused Putin of personally ordering cyber attacks on high-profile U.S. targets to influence the outcome of the Nov. 8 presidential election.
During Wednesday’s Trump acknowledged publicly for the first time that he thought "it was Russia". Putin has denied the hacks.
During his campaign and since his election, Trump has expressed his intention to have good ties with Russia and repeatedly praised its leader.
