When the Fox News host Chris Wallace asked President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia whether Russian hackers had tried to influence the 2016 American election, he gave an unusual answer: The hacks had exposed some Democrats who put their thumbs on the scale to help Hillary Clinton, and that was what mattered.

Mr. Putin made the comments in a Fox News exclusive interview on Monday evening after his two-hour, one-on-one summit meeting with President Trump and their joint news conference.

Mr. Wallace tried to press Mr. Putin on a topic that Mr. Trump all but dismissed during the news conference — the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers who the special counsel investigating interference in the 2016 election said were acting in their “official capacities” when they hacked the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton presidential campaign.