Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused American politicians of whipping up hysteria about a mythical Russian threat as a ploy to distract voters from their own failings in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election.

Putin, addressing an audience of foreign policy experts gathered in southern Russia, repeatedly lashed out at the Obama administration, saying it did not keep its word on Syria, did not honor deals, and had falsely accused Moscow of all manner of sins.

The U.S. government has formally accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations, while Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has accused Republican rival Donald Trump of being a Putin “puppet”.

Putin said he found it hard to believe that anyone seriously thought Moscow was capable of influencing the Nov. 8 election.

“Hysteria has been whipped up,” said Putin.

He said that was a ruse to cover up for the fact that the U.S. political elite had nothing to say about serious issues such as the country’s national debt or gun control.

Source: Reuters