Russia had no hand in poll-influencing hacking, says Vladimir Putin

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Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that his country was not involved in computer hacking and emphasised that hackers were in any case unable to influence the outcome of an election.

While speaking to the media, Putin said Russia had not taken part in the hacking during France's recent presidential election.

"At a state level, we are not doing this and are not planning to do this. On the contrary, we try to fight against this inside the country," Putin was quoted by Efe.

In response to a question about possible Russian interference in the German elections, which are scheduled to take place on September 24, he said he had no interest in influencing the result.

He emphasised that the Russian government was indifferent as to who runs Germany.

He acknowledged that he knows Chancellor Angela Merkel well and maintains both differences of opinion as well as points of view in common with her.

Putin added he was "deeply convinced" that hackers could not decisively influence the evolution of an electoral campaign in another country.

He added that hacking could not have an effect on what he called "the conscience of voters".

The head of the Kremlin said someone could specially design "a chain of attacks" in such a manner that they would appear to have been perpetrated from within the Russian Federation.

"Modern technology allows this," he said, adding that "hackers can come from anywhere, from anywhere in the world."

Putin also acknowledged that there may be Russian hackers "who consider themselves patriots" and decide to "make their contribution, as they see fit, to fight against those who speak ill of Russia."

"Theoretically, that's possible," said Putin, but he also dismissed as "fictional" the accusations that Russian computer attacks influenced the results of France's election of its new President, Emmanuel Macron, just as they did Donald Trump's election to the White House.