U.S. probe into "Russian influence" creates panic: Putin

Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin said here on Thursday that he saw the U.S. investigations into the so-called Russian influence in the U.S. presidential election as an effort to create anti-Russian hysteria.

Putin made the remarks at a press conference along with Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö, in Savonlinna, Eastern Finland.

According to Putin, the investigations were not real investigations, as they are lack of a full study of the situation.

He noted that the election of a U.S. president has nothing to do with Russia and it is not Russia's business to evaluate what the U.S. president does.

The Russian president criticized the U.S. practice as an effort to "make U.S. legislation valid in other countries" and said Russian-U.S. relations were being sacrificed to U.S. domestic issues.

He reminded, however, that "Russia has also many friends in the U.S."

But Putin stopped short of defining what possible counter measures Russia would adopt, just saying Russia should see first what the final outcome of the U.S. legislation would be.

On his part, Sauli Niinistö said he did not quite share the view that it was an attempt to validate U.S. laws outside the country, but said the issue was alleged attempt to influence the U.S. elections.

Niinistö warned that any new sanctions would affect soon other countries and therefore there are talks within the European Union.

Local analysts noted possible new U.S. sanctions against Russia could affect the expansion of the Baltic gas pipelines known as Nordstream 2. If U.S. sanctions target western energy companies involved in Nordstream 2, a suspension of the project would be possible.

Some EU countries, mainly the Baltics and Poland, have been very critical of the new phase of Nordstream, whereas Germany and Finland have considered the plan as a business and energy venture.

Finland would not be using gas from the pipeline but it would be located in Finnish economic zone. The pipeline under discussion is supposed to carry Russian produced natural gas to the European continent through the Baltic Sea.