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MOSCOW. — The scandal that erupted in the United States over allegations Russia hacked Democratic Party e-mails has not been in Moscow’s interests and both sides in the US election campaign are just using Russia to score points, President Vladimir Putin said yesterday.The US government last Friday formally accused Russia for the first time of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organisations ahead of the November 8 presidential election. And the White House said on Tuesday it would consider a variety of responses to the alleged hacks.

“They started this hysteria, saying that this (hacking) is in Russia’s interests. But this has nothing to do with Russia’s interests,” President Putin told a business forum in Moscow.

Putin said the accusations were a ploy to divert US voters’ attention at a time when public opinion was being manipulated.

“Everyone is talking about ‘who did it’ (the hacking),” said Putin. “But is it that important? The most important thing is what is inside this information.”

The Kremlin said earlier yesterday it took a negative view of White House statements about a planned “proportional” response to the alleged cyber attacks. — Reuters.