Statements by US officials alleging that President Putin is corrupt are outrageous and insulting, the Kremlin said on Friday, adding that they were an attempt to influence Russia's next presidential election.
A White House spokesman said that earlier comments by a US Treasury Department official against Putin were a reflection of the American administration's view.
Earlier this week, UK's state-run broadcaster, BBC reported that Adam Szubin, acting Treasury Secretary for terrorism and financial crimes, said in an interview that the United States considers Putin corrupt. The Kremlin later described the remarks as an "official accusation."
"This statement is outrageous and insulting," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with journalists, referring to the White House comment.
"In general, we see that overseas they have started preparing for Russia's presidential election which is still more than two years away," Peskov said.
"It is clear that negative stuff is being accumulated to be used against the head of our state ... to exert pressure and influence the course of the future election campaign."
Relations between the United States and Russia are at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War, largely due to the crisis in eastern Ukraine and Russia’s air campaign in Syria, Press TV reported.
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