(Reuters) — President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday (January 17) an unsubstantiated report that alleged Russia had gathered compromising material on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was a hoax.
The Russian leader was responding to unverified claims in a dossier published last week that Russian intelligence operatives had compromising information on Trump, including that he had met with Moscow prostitutes on a visit to Moscow several years ago.
Putin doubted that U.S. President-elect had met with prostitutes because he said Trump had met with the most beautiful women in the world.
“Trump arrived and straight away rushed to meet with Moscow prostitutes. This is an adult man first of all and, apart from that, is a man who for many years took part in organising beauty contests. He has socialised with the most beautiful women in the world,” Putin said.
“I find it difficult to believe that he ran to a hotel to meet with our girls of reduced social responsibility. Although here also we have the best ones in the world,” he said at a news conference in Moscow with Moldova’s President Igor Dodon.
Putin said it was “total nonsense” that Russian intelligence had followed Trump to gather compromising material on him and reiterated that he had never met Trump.
“Trump, when he came to Moscow – and I can’t event remember when that was, several years ago – he wasn’t any sort of political figure. We didn’t even know about his political ambitions,” Putin said.
“What, someone thinks that the special services chase after every American billionaire? Of course not, that’s total nonsense.”
Putin also said he hoped that Moscow and Washington could eventually get their troubled relations back to normal.