Putin finally comments on Panama Papers, saying Washington is behind it all and he's proud to know Roldugin

Vladimir Putin told reporters today that he is proud to have friends like cellist Sergey Roldugin, whose name features prominently in the “Panama Papers”—the biggest leak of confidential documents about offshore companies in the history of investigative journalism. According to Putin, Roldugin has spent almost all his earnings on musical instruments, which he donates to Russian state institutions. 

Putin says Roldugin is a businessman, but not a billionaire. “And what kind of business does he run? He's a minority shareholder in one of our companies, where he pulls a salary, but it's hardly billions of dollars. That's all nonsense,” the president insisted, likely referring to Yuri Kovalchuk's Rossiya Bank, when he said “one of our companies.” (Roldugin owns a little more than 3 percent in Rossiya Bank.)

Putin's remarks about his friend's offshore wealth come three days after the publication of the first Panama Papers, which media outlets throughout the Western world have cited as evidence of Putin's $2-billion private wealth.

Putin also said that the US government orchestrated the Panama Papers, crediting Wikileaks with revealing how Washington operates. “When officials from the US State Department or the White House announce certain ridiculous things, it means that they're designating themselves as a stakeholder.” Putin welcomes this, he says, “because [then] we know who ordered the whole thing.”