In Russia, President Vladimir Putin denied allegations Thursday that the Russian government meddled in the 2016 U.S. election. But Putin suggested for the first time that independent Russian hackers may have played a role in undermining the campaign of Hillary Clinton.

President Vladimir Putin: “Hackers are free-spirited people. They are like artists. If they are in a good mood in the morning, they wake up and paint. It is the same for hackers. They wake up today, they read that something is happening in interstate relations, and if they are patriotically minded, they start to make their own contribution to what they believe is the good fight against those who speak badly about Russia.”