Russia challenges US to back up hacking claims with proof

The Unites States should put up, or shut up, according to a spokesperson for the Kremlin, as the dispute over allegations of Russian meddling in US elections rumbles on.

Intelligence officials in the West have reported that there is evidence that Russia, and more specifically its president Vladimir Putin, influenced the result of the election, in which Donald Trump emerged victorious over Hillary Clinton.

Thousands of emails from Democratic party officials were released by Wikileaks during Clinton's campaign, including those of her campaign chairman John Podesta.

Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was "indecent" of the US to accuse Russia of the actions.

"They should either stop talking about that or produce some proof at last. Otherwise it all begins to look unseemly," Peskov is reported to have said.

On Thursday, outgoing US president Barack Obama vowed to take action against Russia if there was sufficient evidence that it had interfered in the country's elections.

"I think there's no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact on the integrity of our elections, that we need to take action and we will, at a time and a place of our own choosing," Obama said on Thursday.

The president also admitted that he had spoken with Putin about the issue.

"Mr Putin is well aware of my feelings about this, because I spoke to him directly about it."

It is unclear at this stage what Obama's plans are with regard to the hacking issue, as he only has just over one month left in the job before Trump takes over the Oval Office, having reciprocated several complimentary comments with Putin over the last few months.