Vladimir Putin has praised Donald Trump for his "strong leadership qualities" and said he "couldn't care less" about allegations of interference in the US presidential election.

Mr Putin repeatedly responded "So what?" to questions about election meddling.

The Russian president also said he does not read Mr Trump's tweets, adding: "Donald is a more modern person."

His comments came during two extended interviews with Megyn Kelly for NBC News.

Asked why he thought Mr Trump had been nice about him, Mr Putin said: "This is not about being nice to me personally in my view

" I think he is an experienced person, a businessman with very extensive experience, and he understands that if you need to partner with someone you must treat your future or current partner with respect, otherwise nothing will come of it. I think this is a purely pragmatic approach. This is my first point.

"Second, even though this is his first term as president he is a quick study, and he understands perfectly well that trading accusations or insults at our level is a road to nowhere."