Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested on Friday that the hacking of Hillary Clinton's campaign during the election may have been a CIA-engineered false flag operation designed to implicate his country.

'Hackers can be anywhere,' the Russian leader told NBC News' Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly.

'They can be in Russia, in Asia... even in America, Latin America. They can even be hackers, by the way, in the United States, who very skillfully and professionally, shifted the blame, as we say, on to Russia.

'Can you imagine something like that? In the midst of a political battle. By some calculations it was convenient for them to release this information, so they released it, citing Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (above) suggested on Friday that the hacking of Hillary Clinton's campaign during the election may have been a CIA-engineered false flag operation designed to implicate his country

'Hackers can be anywhere,' the Russian leader told NBC News' Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly (above). 'They can be in Russia, in Asia...even in America, Latin America. They can even be hackers, by the way, in the United States, who very skillfully and professionally, shifted the blame, as we say, on to Russia'

'Could you imagine something like that? I can.'

Putin was asked about the assessment shared by the US intelligence community that his government had orchestrated the hacking of senior Democratic Party officials as part of a concerted effort to help Donald Trump win the presidency.

Earlier on Friday, Putin said that Trump had run a better presidential campaign than Clinton and that US intelligence agencies could have easily faked what he said was false evidence that Russia had hacked the Democratic Party.

The alleged hacking by Russia has deepened a political scandal which has focused on whether Trump had improper ties with Moscow, something he flatly denies.

Earlier on Friday, Putin said that Donald Trump (right) had run a better presidential campaign than Clinton and that US intelligence agencies could have easily faked what he said was false evidence that Russia had hacked the Democratic Party

Putin, addressing the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, said on Friday that the hacking accusations were nothing more than 'harmful gossip' which he complained was damaging international relations and the global economy.

He said he had personally reviewed the US intelligence reports which made the hacking allegations against Russia, and that they contained no meaningful evidence.

'I have read these reports,' said Putin. 'Even in these reports there is nothing specific but only assumptions and conclusions based on assumptions.'

The idea that the hacking had reportedly been carried out from Russian IP addresses which constituted meaningful evidence of anything was absurd, he said.

'Where are the finger prints? IP addresses can be faked. Do you know how many specialists there are who can make it look as if your children sent something from your home IP address? They can fake anything and then accuse anyone. It's not evidence.'

Putin, who is keen to repair battered US-Russia relations and is expected to meet Trump for the first time at the G20 in Hamburg in July, said Trump had simply run a better campaign and better connected with voters than Clinton.

He said her supporters were now trying to blame Russia for their failure.

Clinton on Wednesday launched an all-out assault on Trump, claiming he must have 'guided' Russian efforts to keep her out of the White House. She is seen above speaking at the BookExpo 2017 at the Javits Center in New York City on Thursday

'But the problem is not with us, the problem is inside American politics,' said Putin.

'The other (Clinton) team miscalculated. They don't want to admit their mistake. It's easier for them to say that they are not guilty, that the Russians are the guilty ones for interfering in our election. It reminds me of anti-Semitism.'

Visibly irritated by having to discuss the matter, Putin was equally forthright about denying separate accusations that there had been some kind of secret deal between Moscow and the Trump team before his inauguration.

'There was nothing concrete, zero. It's just hysteria. Should I give you a pill?' Putin said to a moderator who asked him about the matter.

Clinton on Wednesday launched an all-out assault on Trump, claiming he must have 'guided' Russian efforts to keep her out of the White House.

She spelled out a detailed theory that her campaign had been hit by the Russian hacking and that it used its agents to spread 'fake news'.

But she added: 'The Russians in my opinion - and based on intelligence and counterintelligence people I have spoken to - could not have known best how to weaponize that information unless they had been guided by a specific group of people. By Americans.'