Putin denies knowledge of secret channel proposal

WASHINGTON: Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has no knowledge of a reported pre-inauguration proposal by President Donald Trump’s son in law and top aide Jared Kushner to set up a secret, bug-proof communications channel with the Kremlin.

In an interview aired Sunday on NBC, Putin again flatly denied US intelligence agencies’ assessment that Russia meddled via hacking and other means in the US election to help Trump win. He said there may have been non-Russian hackers from anywhere that simply blamed Russia.