claims of Russian meddling in US vote 'fantasies': Putin

Danang: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said accusations that Moscow meddled in US elections, particularly through contacts with Donald Trump's campaign team, are "fantasies" and attempts to undermine the US presidency. The Trump administration has been roiled by claims that Moscow helped the billionaire into the White House, with key former aides under a US investigation for alleged collaboration with the Kremlin. "Everything about the so-called Russian dossier in the US is a manifestation of continuing domestic political struggle," Putin said at the Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam. "Of course I'm aware," he said when asked if he follows the mounting probe concerning contacts between Trump's team members and Russians, including a woman who claimed to be Putin's niece. "Regarding some sort of connections of my relatives with members of the administration or some officials, I only found out about that yesterday (Friday) from (spokesman Dmitry) Peskov," he said. "I don't know anything about it," he said. "I think these are some sort of fantasies."