Putin dismisses Trump’s claims over Hunter Biden saying there is ‘nothing criminal’ about his business deals in Ukraine
VLADIMIR Putin has dismissed Donald Trump's claims over Hunter Biden's past business ties with Ukraine.
The Russian leader has said there is "nothing criminal" about Hunter Biden's activities, contradicting one of the president's attack lines against Joe Biden.
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Trump and his allies have accused Joe Biden of wrongdoing over Ukraine dating back to his time as vice-president, when Hunter was working for an energy company based in the country.
Putin has said Russia will work with any US leader but has praised Trump in the past for saying he wanted better ties with Moscow,
But he appeared less friendly towards Trump in remarks broadcast by Russian state TV on Sunday.
He took the time to knock down what he made clear he regarded as false allegations from Trump about Hunter Biden.
"Yes, in Ukraine he had or maybe still has a business, I don't know. It doesn't concern us. It concerns the Americans and the Ukrainians," said Putin.
"But well yes he had at least one company, which he practically headed up, and judging from everything he made good money.
“I don't see anything criminal about this, at least we don't know anything about this (being criminal)."
Putin was responding to comments made by Trump during televised debates with Democratic challenger Biden ahead of the November election.
He was also visibly irritated when asked about comments Trump has made concerning Putin's ties to the former mayor of Moscow, and to an alleged payment made to Hunter Biden by the ex-mayor's widow.
Putin said he knew nothing about the existence of any commercial relationship between Hunter and the woman.
Senate released an 87-page report on in detailing Hunter Biden’s work for Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holding during his father's time as vice president.
Hunter Biden has faced scrutiny over his job after he joined in 2014 on a salary reportedly up to $50,000-a-month, despite having no prior experience.
Trump claims Hunter's job was instrumental in Biden pressuring the government into firing prosecutors Viktor Shokin who he claims was investigating Burisma.
The allegations are disputed - with officials claiming Shokin was actually fired for failing to investigation corruption.
Ukrainian prosecutors also said earlier this year there was no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Hunter Biden.
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The GOP report also states that in 2014, Hunter Biden's company Rosemont Seneca Thornton received a $3.5 million wire from Elena Baturina, a Russian billionaire and the widow of former Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
The New York Post recently uncovered several emails and a "" video on a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden that was undergoing repair.
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The emails appear to show that VP met with Burisma exec Vadym Pozharskyi while the Ukrainian was in the , reports the Post.