Vladimir Putin says firing of FBI director James Comey will not impact US-Russia relations: Report

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, who was leading an investigation into possible Russian meddling in the US presidential election, will not impact relations between the two nations.

"There will be no effect," Putin told CBS News in a brief interview in the Russian city of Sochi. "Your question looks very funny for me. Don't be angry with me. We have nothing to do with that." 

Trump ignited a political firestorm on Tuesday by firing Comey. The Republican president said he fired Comey, the top US law enforcement official, over his handling of an election-year email scandal involving then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

The move stunned Washington and raised concerns among Democrats and others that the White House was trying to blunt the FBI probe involving Russia.

Some Democrats compared Trump's move to the "Saturday Night Massacre" of 1973, in which President Richard Nixon fired an independent special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal.

White House officials denied allegations that there was any political motive in the move by Trump, who took office on January 20.