Vladimir Putin again denied that Russia interfered in last year's U.S. election, joking to NBC News' Megyn Kelly that even her "underage daughter" could have been behind the hacking.

Axar.az reports citing NBCnews.

The journalist asked the Russian president about what American intelligence agencies say is evidence that he became personally involved in a covert campaign to harm Hillary Clinton and benefit Donald Trump.

"IP addresses can be invented, a child can do that! Your underage daughter could do that. That is not proof," Putin replied.

He also said that U.S. officials blaming Russia "reminds me of anti-Semitism and blaming the Jews," describing it as "disinformation."

Putin made the comments in a panel discussion moderated by Kelly at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Later, Kelly is due to go one-on-one with Putin in a sit-down interview.

Putin dismissed the hacking allegations "idle prattle" and "harmful."

He said: "This is transferring the internal political bickering of the United States beyond the borders of the country outside on the international stage. There is no specific evidence no facts, just assumptions, allegations and conclusions based on those allegations nothing more."

Putin also questioned Trump's call for NATO allies to increase their military spending, asking: "If you're not intending to attack anybody, why increase your military spending?"

He said: "The U.S. demand from their allies to raise their spending and simultaneously say that NATO is not going to attack anybody."

Putin suggested that NATO was an outdated alliance.

"NATO was established as a Cold War instrument in the fight against the Soviet Union ... there is no longer any ... Soviet Union but NATO is still there. The question is, what for?" he asked.

"NATO has already been talking about transformation … into a political organization, as the kind of an organization that creates the elements of stability in the world," Putin said. He added, however, that "so far we are seeing the way the military infrastructure is expanding and heading towards our borders."

The Russian leader suggested the alliance's continued existence could be explained because it was merely an "instrument of U.S. foreign policy."