Russia dismisses US cable claims about Vladimir Putin

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's spokesperson dismissed on Thursday claims made in leaked US diplomatic cables about Putin's personal wealth as "ridiculous".

Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that it was unclear whether the cables were genuine, but that if they were he would be surprised that US diplomats could write such "rubbish".

He said that the purported cables repeated silly rumours and lacked supporting facts to back up their claims. He said he did not feel the documents would complicate Russia's relations with the United States.