Putin doesn't want to read Hillary Clinton's memoir, says Kremlin

'I know he must be enjoying everything that's happened instead. But he hasn't had the last laugh yet,' former Democratic presidential candidate writes

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaks during his news conference in Xiamen, Fujian province, China, where he called for talks with North Korea and warned against 'military hysteria' (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Vladimir Putin has no desire to read Hillary Clinton’s newly released book on her failed presidential bid, the Kremlin has said.

In her account of the 2016 election campaign, What Happened, Ms Clinton laid blame on the Russian leader, among others, for her defeat to Donald Trump.

She wrote: "I never imagined that he would have the audacity to launch a massive covert attack against our own democracy, right under our noses - and that he'd get away with it."

But Mr Putin will not be reading the text, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to Russian news agency Tass.

Ms Clinton also claimed Mr Putin had a vendetta against her. But Mr Peskov denied this was true, simply saying “no”.

Russian interference in last year’s election has been a significant point of contention between the two countries.

Consensus opinion in the US intelligence community is that the Kremlin backed a hacking campaign against the Democratic Party.

There are also allegations Russian agents colluded with Mr Trump’s campaign to work against Ms Clinton, into which Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller is leading an investigation.

Mr Putin has denied both charges.

In her book, Ms Clinton expressed her disappointment at not being able to face down Mr Putin from the White House.

She said: "There's nothing I was looking forward to more than showing Putin that his efforts to influence our election and install a friendly puppet had failed.

"I know he must be enjoying everything that's happened instead. But he hasn't had the last laugh yet."

Ms Clinton also blamed a number of other factors and people for her defeat, including sexism, the media, former FBI Director James Comey and Bernie Sanders.

However, Ms Clinton said ultimately the election campaign was hers, and it was she who made the key decisions.