Putin calls Panama Papers a plot by the U.S. to weaken Russia

Teflon Putin, as the Russian president has been called for his ability to let accusations roll right off of him, was in pristine form on Thursday.

It's been five days since the Panama Papers, which some are calling the biggest leak in the history of journalism, uncovered evidence showing his close friends laundered money through elaborate offshore financial schemes, likely for his benefit.

Speaking for the first time since the revelations, which came with the leak of millions of confidential documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, Putin casually dismissed them, denying "any element of corruption." 

Then he repeated a line pushed by Russian state media, as well as Wikileaks, that the papers are merely a U.S.-orchestrated disinformation campaign waged against Russia to weaken its government and force regime change.

"WikiLeaks has shown us that official people and official U.S. organs are behind this," Putin said.

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Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, earlier this week said the papers "found out little new" and blamed "Putinphobia" for Western media's focus on the president. 

Putin himself was not named in the Panama Papers, something he brought up. "Your humble servant was not there, but they don't talk about that," he said, referring to Western media.

The Kremlin has posted a transcript of the event with Putin's comments.

But the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) found the names of some of the Russian president's closest friends involved in offshore financial schemes.

One of them was Sergei Roldugin, a renowned Russian cellist and decades long friend of Putin's. Their friendship dates back to the 1970s, even before Putin's KGB days, when the two men used to cruise Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), get into street fights and play football together. Roldugin is also the godfather to Putin's daughter Maria.

Putin said his longtime comrade, who was found in the Panama Papers to be the owner of $2 billion in offshore assets, has done nothing wrong. 

"He is a minority shareholder in one of our companies and it makes some money, but it is certainly not billions of dollars. That's nonsense," the president said.

Sergei Roldugin is seen with President Vladimir Putin while visiting the St. Petersburg House of Music, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, November 21, 2009. Credit: DMITRY ASTAKHOV/AFP/Getty Images

Putin said he was proud of Roldugin, adding that the musician spent his personal money to buy expensive musical instruments from abroad and bring them to Russia in order to advance the country's cultural projects.

"We always welcome when someone does something like this, but it goes even further," Putin said. "I am proud that I have such friends."

BONUS: Everything you need to know about the Panama Papers in two minutes

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