The Kremlin confirmed Tuesday that a man who Russian media suggested was a U.S. spy extracted in 2017 had worked in President Vladimir Putin's office before he was fired, Reuters reports.

CNN reported on Monday that the U.S. removed a spy from Russia in 2017 over concerns that President Trump mishandled intelligence. The New York Times later reported that the spy played a major role in the CIA's determination that Putin personally directed Russia's interference operation in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The White House, however, disputed the reports.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the man worked in the presidential administration, but was fired several years ago, according to Reuters.

"His job was not at a senior official level," Peskov said, adding that he could not confirm if the man was a spy.

"I don't know whether he was an agent. I can only confirm that there was such a person in the presidential administration, who was later sacked," Peskov said.

"All this U.S. media speculation about who urgently extracted who and saved who from who and so on - this is more the genre of pulp fiction, crime reading, so let's leave it up to them," Peskov added.

Reuters, citing the Russian newspaper Kommersant, reports that the man disappeared with his wife and children on vacation in Montenegro in 2017 and is now reported to be living in the U.S.