MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin says he doesn’t care about alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election because the actions weren’t connected to his government.
In an interview with American broadcaster NBC News that aired Saturday, Putin also suggested that some of the 13 Russian nationals indicted by the United States may not be ethnically Russian.
‘‘Maybe they are not even Russians, but Ukrainians, Tatars, or Jews, but with Russian citizenship, which should also be checked,’’ he said.
Putin responded brusquely when interviewer Megyn Kelly asked if he condoned the interference that was alleged in last month’s US indictment by special counsel Robert Mueller.
‘‘It’s all the same to me. To me it absolutely makes no difference because they do not represent the government,’’ Putin answered, according to the Russian-language interview transcript posted Saturday by the Kremlin.
Putin said Russia has neither the tools nor the will to meddle in elections. He repeatedly complained during the interview that Washington has brushed off Russian initiatives to work together on cybersecurity issues.
‘‘But the US refuses to work like this and instead throws 13 Russians to the media,’’ he said, going on to list the possible ethnicities that would make the suspects ‘‘not even Russian.’’
‘‘Maybe they have dual citizenship or a green card; maybe the US paid them for this. How can you know that? I do not know, either,’’ the Russian leader said.
Putin claimed that the United States interferes in Russian elections ‘‘all the time’’ but that it was ‘‘impossible for us’’ to do the same.
‘‘First, we have principles whereby we do not allow others to interfere in our domestic affairs and do not get into the affairs of others....Secondly, we don’t have this quantity of tools,’’ he said.
The NBC News interview was conducted in two parts, on March 1 and March 2. Kelly noted that Putin made the remark about not having the tools to disrupt the US election shortly after he announced that Russia had developed major new nuclear weapons.
‘‘This isn’t missiles. This is an absolutely different sphere of activity,’’ Putin responded.
On March 18, Russians will go to the polls to confirm a fourth presidential term for Putin, a 65-year-old former KGB officer who has turned his country’s government into an authoritarian system. He has hobbled his political opposition through his control over Russia’s main television channels, the security services, and the judiciary — and also because most of the country supports him.
On Friday, Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign aide appeared for hours before a federal grand jury, after he defiantly insisted in a series of news interviews just days earlier that he intended to defy a subpoena in Mueller investigation.
Nunberg spent more than six hours inside the federal courthouse in Washington. He declined to speak with journalists on the way in or out of the building, and it was not immediately clear what testimony he offered to the grand jury or what documents he provided.
His appearance marked a turnabout from extraordinary public statements Monday when Nunberg, in multiple interviews, balked at complying with a subpoena that sought his appearance before the grand jury as well as correspondence with other campaign officials.
In doing so, he became the first witness in the Mueller inquiry to openly threaten to defy a subpoena.
But later that night, Nunberg, who initially suggested that he considered Mueller’s document demands unreasonable, said he had relented. ‘‘I'm going to end up cooperating with them,’’ he said.
Nunberg said he worked for hours to produce the thousands of e-mails and other communications requested by Mueller, who is investigating whether Donald Trump’s campaign improperly coordinated with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
‘‘I thought it was a teachable moment,’’ he said of his 24 hours in the limelight.
So far, 19 people and three companies have been charged in Mueller’s investigation. Among those charged are President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn, and 13 Russia nationals accused in a hidden but powerful social media campaign to meddle in the American election.
Five people, including Flynn, have pleaded guilty.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyers are currently negotiating the terms and scope of a possible interview with Mueller’s office.
Top Trump staffers are heading for the exits, in part because the Russia investigation continues to loom and they could be drawn into the matter.
