Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said he would prefer to see Democrat Kamala Harris win the US presidential election and not Republican nominee Donald Trump. 

Largely seen as a cynical attempt to swing the November election Trump's way — and clearly an effort to sow confusion — Putin smiled impishly as he told a gathering in Saint Petersburg, "Firstly, [US President Joe] Biden recommended all his supporters support Mrs Harris. Here, we are going to do that too, we're going to support her."

"She laughs so contagiously that it shows that everything is fine with her," Putin continued, "[Former US President Donald] Trump has imposed as many sanctions on Russia as any president has ever imposed before, and if Harris is doing well, perhaps she will refrain from such actions."

The comments echo two Trump claims, that Harris' laugh suggests "she's crazy" and that "no one was tougher on Russia" despite the fact that he repeatedly voiced his glowing admiration for strongman Putin during his one term in office.

Putin's comments came just one day after the US accused Moscow of election interference, issuing criminal indictments against two employees at Russia's state-run RT news and leveling sanctions against two RT editors.

US National Security Advisor John Kirby, speaking from the White House on Thursday said, "The only people who should get to determine who the next president of United States is are the American people, and we would greatly appreciate it if Mr. Putin would, a) stop talking about our election, and b) stop interfering in it."

js/jcg (AFP, Reuters)