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'They are worse than prostitutes': Vladimir Putin slams Donald Trump's opponents

Russian President Vladimir Putin has mocked claims that Russian secret services filmed US President-elect Donald Trump with prostitutes.

Putin backed Trump's assertions that the dossier into Trump was 'fake news' and was simply a ploy to discredit him.

"Trump arrived and straight away rushed to meet with Moscow prostitutes, Putin joked.

"This is an adult man and, apart from that, is a man who for many years took part in organising beauty contests," he continued.

"He has socialised with the most beautiful women in the world.

"I find it difficult to believe that he ran to a hotel to meet with our girls of reduced social responsibility."

Vladimir Putin believes the very notion of Donald Trump liaising with prostitutes in Russia is laughable. Source: Getty.
Vladimir Putin believes the very notion of Donald Trump liaising with prostitutes in Russia is laughable. Source: Getty.

Trump, who will be inaugurated as US president on Friday, has dismissed reports that Russia had compromising information on him as "fake news" and "phoney stuff."

The unsubstantiated dossier published by American media last week alleged that Russia had gathered compromising information on Trump, namely videos involving prostitutes at a luxury Moscow hotel, supposedly as a potential means for blackmail.

The information was summarised in a US intelligence report presented to Trump and President Barack Obama this month.

James Clapper, director of national intelligence, has said the dossier was not produced by US intelligence agencies and they have not judged whether the information is reliable.

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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 even remember when that was, ... he wasn't any sort of political figure. We didn't even know about his political ambitions," Putin said.

"Does anyone think that our special services chase every American billionaire? Of course not, it's just completely ridiculous."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov last week called the dossier a fabrication aimed at damaging Moscow's ties with Washington.

Putin went on to compare those behind the dossier unfavourably with prostitutes.

"The people who order falsifications of the kind that are now circulating against the US President-elect -- they are worse than prostitutes, they don't have any moral limits at all.

"The fact that such methods are being used against the US President-elect is a unique case: nothing like this has happened before.

"This shows a significant level of degradation of the political elite in the West."

Putin stressed once again he has never met Trump and said he has no grounds to either attack or defend him.

"We won't even apply to the Nobel Prize committee to award him the prize for physics or mathematics," Putin said, in a wry reference to Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize soon after entering the White House in 2009.

'Fake stories'

Putin condemned Trump's opponents for attempting to "undermine (his) legitimacy" and tie him "by the hands and feet" as he tried to carry out his campaign promises.

"Whether or not they want this, the people who do this cause huge damage to the interests of the US, just huge," he added.

"It's as if they want to put together a Maidan in Washington after practising in Kiev," Putin said, referring to public protests and unrest that rocked the capital of Ukraine in 2013 and 2014 which ended in the overthrow of its ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, something Moscow proclaims was a US-backed coup d'etat.

Putin condemned Trump's opponents for attempting to
Putin condemned Trump's opponents for attempting to

Putin cited the scandal over cyber attacks on the Democratic Party and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that US intelligence organisations said Russia had masterminded to influence the polls.

"How can you do anything to improve Russian-US relations if fake stories are thrown in such as the intervention of some hackers during the election campaign?" Putin asked.