Putin congratulates Trump as he denies meddling in US election

Vladimir Putin has praised Donald Trump for "keenly" gauging public sentiment in order to win the US election, and denied White House claims that Russia had meddled with the vote.

Speaking during a marathon end-of-year news conference, Russian president Mr Putin said he sees "nothing unusual" in Mr Trump's pledge to strengthen the US nuclear forces, saying the statement was in line with the president-elect's campaign promises.